NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)
For
7th to 12th Grade Teachers
In
"Civil Infrastructure Renewal and Rehabilitation"

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Principal Investigator: Anant R. Kukreti
NSF Grant No.: EEC 0601960

UC RET SITE OVERVIEW

This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site is for 7th to 12th grade teachers in the area of "Civil Infrastructure Renewal and Rehabilitation." It is offered through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. The goals of the RET Site are three fold. First, we expect to educate, cultivate, and facilitate 7th to 12th grade science and math teachers by exploring the scientific method of inquiry and the critical research skills that engineers use to solve open-ended real-world problems. Second, it is expected that the participating teachers will become role models by applying their research experiences in their classrooms and with colleagues. Third, the teachers' new skills will enable 7th to 12th grade students to directly link their education to events and issues occurring within their community and encourage them to become effective citizens in a technology-driven society. The RET Site will initiating 12 teachers each year in research in civil infrastructure engineering. The basic approach proposed will be discovery through actual construction and experimental testing, field data collection, observing and recording, computer simulations, synthesizing, and generalizations. Each year four project topics will be chosen to augment the previous year's work and to provide an overall view on the research related to performance evaluation, health monitoring, and rehabilitation of civil infrastructure systems. Three teachers will work as a team on one project for six weeks during the summer under the mentorship of a faculty member and a graduate student. Teachers will be sent reading material one month in advance to familiarize themselves with the research to be pursued. Lectures, seminars, demonstrations, and four field trips will be conducted to prepare the teachers for their research and to provide them with background training in civil engineering. In addition, teachers will take four one-credit hour professional development seminars taught by education and engineering faculty members and practicing engineers for which they will receive credits. They will work with a team of five engineering graduate Fellows working for a NSF GK-12 Fellows Project STEP (Science and technology Enhancement) on developing lesson plans before they finish the RET summer experience. Six teachers will have an opportunity to participate in a Post-Ret Teacher Leaders Program and receive additional three credits. The project evaluation plan includes assessment of both the impact of the research experience on the teacher and on student learning after the teacher classroom implementation. The RET projects will provide an opportunity to the teachers to learn how they can engage the interests and abilities of their students by allowing them to see how STEM concepts are used to discover the world and solve society's pressing needs. This RET Site will provide the teachers with experience in using state-of-the-art testing, data recording equipment, and simulation tools and a "total" experience of learning through research, report writing, presentation, and translation into classroom activities.