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An Education Project at the Materials Research Laboratory Teacher Research and Curriculum Web Pages
View the 2006 RET Teacher Workshop guest lecturer presentation INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS PROGRAM? PLEASE CONTACT MARTINA MICHENFELDER, (805) 893-7928  In this exciting new program, secondary school teachers participate in MRL laboratory research, under the mentorship of MRL graduate, post-doctoral and faculty researchers. Teachers work collaboratively to translate their research experiences into the development of new investigative lab projects for physics and chemistry classrooms. For the first summer of participation, each teacher works on a research project for 6 weeks with MRL researchers. Teachers meet regularly to share their research progress and identify ideas to introduce in their science classes. During the following school year, teachers work on designing their teaching units, and discuss strategies at regular monthly meetings. These meeting are facilitated by Dr. Lynne Cavazos, who is a Science Methods Instructor in the Graduate School of Education's Teacher Education Program. For the second summer of participation, teachers work for 4 weeks on polishing up their teaching units for publication and presentation to their colleagues. Teachers consult with MRL faculty with experience as innovative instructors at the introductory level. The goal of these investigative units will be to encourage students to collect scientific data, make responsible conclusions about their meaning and communicate their findings to other students. The investigative teaching resources developed by the teachers will be presented at annual workshops for physics and chemistry teachers throughout the Santa Barbara County area. This year's workshop is March 14, 2008 (Application available here). |
