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Evaluation of Research Experience or Teachers (RET) Program Effectiveness as STEM Professional Development

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30454

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/30454

Download Count

552

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Paper Authors

biography

Katie Estridge Schneider Colorado School of Mines

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Katie Schneider is graduate student studying hydrology at Colorado School of Mines (CSM). Prior to grad school, Katie taught high school science and math in the North Carolina public school system. As she works towards a master’s degree in hydrology, she also serves as the Education Outreach Assistant for the Center for a Sustainable WE2ST, at CSM.

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Amy Charlotte Martin P.E. Colorado School of Mines

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Terri S. Hogue Colorado School of Mines

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Abstract

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) hosts a National Science Foundation funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program that focuses on STEM content surrounding the water-energy nexus (WE2NG: Water-Energy Nexus for the Next Generation). The objectives of this program are to: 1) impact teacher participants by increasing their knowledge of the water-energy nexus and by expanding their perspectives on science, engineering and research, 2) to indirectly impact K-12 student’s learning, motivation and engagement by increasing teacher passion and awareness and by providing mentors for CSM in the K-12 classroom, and 3) to impact K-12 STEM curricula via the creation of standards-based active learning lessons infused with current research which will be available through local, regional and national forums. During the summer of 2017, we systematically evaluated the effectiveness of the WE2NG RET program through pre-program, post-program and weekly surveys, employing both quantitative and qualitative questions. By measuring teacher satisfaction/agreement (%) with respect to the following categories, post-program quantitative responses indicated high levels of program effectiveness; as a professional development program (94.4%), mentor relationships (88.9%), types of learning experiences (88.9%), program accomplishments (83.4%), personal impact (91.4%) and overall experience (92.3%). Quantitative responses from weekly program surveys show increasing levels of program satisfaction (in seven of eight categories) throughout the duration of the RET program. Ongoing work includes evaluation of qualitative survey responses to further measure program effectiveness and to assess self-efficacy in teacher participants. Results will help formulate the remaining summer WE2NG programs as well as future K-12 outreach at the Colorado School of Mines.

Schneider, K. E., & Martin, A. C., & Hogue, T. S. (2018, June), Evaluation of Research Experience or Teachers (RET) Program Effectiveness as STEM Professional Development Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30454

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