RET Site: Research Experiences for Teacher Advancement In Nanotechnology (RETAIN)

This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site, RETAIN at the University of Indiana, provides an immersive research and training program for high school teachers and 2-yr college educators in surrounding high-needs metropolitan school districts. By coupling true academic research experiences, significant professional development programming, post-program support, and the creation of a supportive network of faculty mentors, local industry partners, and colleagues, RETAIN fosters teachers’ abilities and provides the resources needed for them to create and implement engaging nanotechnology-content in their classrooms.

Program activities have been specifically designed to train teachers in inquiry-based learning and translating research experiences into classroom through the creation of learning modules capable of boosting students’ interest in higher-learning and career opportunities pertaining to STEM. Notably, the exciting and cutting-edge research focus area of nanotechnology is not only well suited to capture student interest, but its multidisciplinary nature allows teachers to integrate multiple STEM subjects into their curriculum to provide students with subject-to-subject connectivity comparable to real-world collaborative expectations.

Importantly, IUPUI’s urban location, along with surrounding metropolitan school districts and local industry, provide an established infrastructure for this RET site, which is dedicated to advancing STEM education in a range of student populations to boost breadth of the future STEM workforce.

The RET Site (RETAIN) at the University of Indiana has two specific goals: 1) Training high school teachers and 2-yr college educators in inquiry- and discovery-based science and engineering: from hypothesis development and experimental design to data collection and dissemination of results, all while introducing exciting new nanotechnology-focused STEM concepts, applications, and career options; and 2) Integrating new content into the K-14 curriculum by guiding teachers in the translation of their research experiences into inquiry-based, nanotechnology teaching modules designed to boost excitement, engagement and student interest in STEM. In order the fulfill these goals, over the next three years RETAIN will: 1) Provide 30 K-14 metropolitan educators (high school and 2yr college) with research experiences and workshops designed to increase their understanding of challenges/demands of nanotechnology and associated college/career opportunities and pathways; 2) Lead educators in creating and implementing new classroom learning modules that integrate multiple STEM disciplines, convey scientific-process skills, and align with State and Next Generation Science Standards; 3) Assess teacher-developed learning modules and ensure they promote a culturally responsive image of, and greater interest in, STEM fields among urban secondary students; 4) Create a supportive network of faculty mentors, local industry partners, and educators; and 5) Support communities by disseminating both teacher-developed learning modules and program logistics, schedules, outcomes, deliverables, best practices, and evaluation procedures so that RETAIN framework and its products can be implemented at other institutions and classrooms on a national level.

In this, products and outcomes of RETAIN will not only serve local students, but will invest in the broader, national K-14 community to produce a breadth of graduates with STEM interest and college-ready skills.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.