Designing Effective Student-directed Research Experiences for High School Students (Work in Progress)

Jessica Perez; Joe Muskin

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Pre-College Engineering Education Division Poster Session
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41187
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/41187
Download Count: 243

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Paper Authors

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Joe Muskin University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

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Joe Muskin is the Education Coordinator for the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois. He has experience in both industry and pre-college education before becoming involved in educational outreach at the University. In his current role, Joe received many awards including NSTA's Distinguished Informal Science Educator Award for his outstanding work bringing motivational educational experiences to students across the country.

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biography

Jessica Perez University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

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Jessica G Perez is the Associate Director of Education and Inclusivity for the Engineering Research Center for Power Optimization of Electro-thermal Systems (POETS). Dr. Perez earned a B.S. in Biological Engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Northwestern University. Her professional interests include engineering education, inclusive teaching, and DEI best practices in higher ed.

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Abstract

The gap between current engineering research and pre-college students’ knowledge can be quite significant, and in engaging these pre-college students in meaningful research, it can be difficult to find a project that both reaches their level of understanding and involves them in actual research. Additionally, many research grants require an educational outreach component that can often be seen as an afterthought due to research concerns. We have found that combining these two goals, engaging pre-college students in meaningful research and designing an activity to reach a wider audience, can actually be done with great results. Here we report preliminary data on how high school student researchers worked with a high school teacher to design a STEM activity that the teacher could implement in their class to bring the research into the classroom. Research team activities and methods were observed. Additionally, student research skill growth and attitudes towards STEM were measured at various stages over a year. Changes in teachers’ pedagogy were also measured as a result of this experience. Research methods include both qualitative and quantitative surveys, interviews, observations, and artifact analysis. We identified a few different methods the educational team could use to bring the research into the classroom. A new procedure or technique can be developed that trades quality and precision used in the research procedure to leverage readily available equipment, no dangerous materials or chemicals, and be inexpensive enough to be done in the classroom. Another approach is to apply a concept or tool used in the research to a new problem relevant to students in the classroom. The final approach is to use a product or development of the research in an application that was safe and engaging in the classroom. As the student researchers were developing the educational activity, they were learning about the research of the lab and becoming familiar with the process the researchers were using by directly talking to the researchers, reading some appropriate papers or summaries, and attending the lab group’s research meetings. They were also engaging in genuine STEM research as they developed and tested the new educational activity. The research they were engaged in was both novel and important, yet was at a level they were prepared to work at. This process worked very well during the pandemic, where the students could be provided simple and safe materials and equipment to use at home while checking in frequently with the teacher and college researchers mentoring the project.

Citation
Format

Muskin, J., & Perez, J. (2022, August), Designing Effective Student-directed Research Experiences for High School Students (Work in Progress) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41187

TY - CPAPER
AB - The gap between current engineering research and pre-college students’ knowledge can be quite significant, and in engaging these pre-college students in meaningful research, it can be difficult to find a project that both reaches their level of understanding and involves them in actual research. Additionally, many research grants require an educational outreach component that can often be seen as an afterthought due to research concerns. We have found that combining these two goals, engaging pre-college students in meaningful research and designing an activity to reach a wider audience, can actually be done with great results. Here we report preliminary data on how high school student researchers worked with a high school teacher to design a STEM activity that the teacher could implement in their class to bring the research into the classroom. Research team activities and methods were observed. Additionally, student research skill growth and attitudes towards STEM were measured at various stages over a year. Changes in teachers’ pedagogy were also measured as a result of this experience. Research methods include both qualitative and quantitative surveys, interviews, observations, and artifact analysis.
We identified a few different methods the educational team could use to bring the research into the classroom. A new procedure or technique can be developed that trades quality and precision used in the research procedure to leverage readily available equipment, no dangerous materials or chemicals, and be inexpensive enough to be done in the classroom. Another approach is to apply a concept or tool used in the research to a new problem relevant to students in the classroom. The final approach is to use a product or development of the research in an application that was safe and engaging in the classroom.
As the student researchers were developing the educational activity, they were learning about the research of the lab and becoming familiar with the process the researchers were using by directly talking to the researchers, reading some appropriate papers or summaries, and attending the lab group’s research meetings. They were also engaging in genuine STEM research as they developed and tested the new educational activity. The research they were engaged in was both novel and important, yet was at a level they were prepared to work at. This process worked very well during the pandemic, where the students could be provided simple and safe materials and equipment to use at home while checking in frequently with the teacher and college researchers mentoring the project.

AU - Joe Muskin
AU - Jessica Perez
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Designing Effective Student-directed Research Experiences for High School Students (Work in Progress)
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/41187
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41187
ER -