RET Site: Teachers As Researchers in Computing Classrooms (TARCC) Bridging Gaps in High School Computing Education in Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota

Computer science education in the United States faces challenges ranging from access inequality to underrepresentation to lack of teachers and outdated curricula. High school educators who develop pedagogy based on computational thinking will impact student experiences in K-12 classrooms as well as provide pathways towards early exposure to CS education.

The widespread adoption of computational approaches and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing provides a compelling reason to strengthen computer science education and create a diverse STEM-educated workforce. This RET Site at University of Wisconsin-River Falls aims to improve computer science literacy among high school students by engaging K-12 STEM educators, especially CS educators, from eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin in a comprehensive research experience.

With a focus on integration of interdisciplinary CS research-based experiences in K–12 education, this RET Site will help empower teachers with cutting-edge knowledge and practical skills, serving as a powerful tool to modernize the curriculum.

This RET site will offer an intensive seven-week summer research program for 30 STEM teachers over three years, focusing on interdisciplinary computer science research projects. The program aims to modernize CS education by integrating traditional computing with artificial intelligence and big data, in a research-based approach to developing pedagogy.

Research areas will encompass high-performance computing, computational simulation and modeling, biomedical informatics, cybersecurity, and machine learning. Teachers will collaborate in teams and work closely with faculty mentors. Activities will include reflecting on their intensive research experiences through evidence-based teaching approaches and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), incorporating evidence-backed pedagogy in their curriculum, professional development events, educational tours, pre- and post-program evaluations, and follow-up workshops to reinforce the importance of a research experience in STEM education.

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.