Collaborative Research: COLLABORATIVE RET Site: Teacher POWER (Preparing Our Workforce through Electronics and Research)

This three-year RET Site: Teacher POWER: Preparing Our Workforce through Electronics and Research supports the current national focus on advanced Electronics Materials, Packaging and Semiconductor (EMPS) activities and research. Hosted by Wright State University (WSU), the University of Dayton (UD), and Central State University (CSU), this project engages K-12 in-service and pre-service teachers in the Southwestern Ohio region, working with them to develop the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to prepare a STEM workforce to advance EMPS industries. The three institutions (CSU is a land grant HBCU, UD is a mid-size private university and WSU is a mid-size public university) will provide resources and structured opportunities to develop as a cohort and share their research experiences with one another. Participants will be guided through a structured STEM curriculum development experience built on the TeachEngineering framework. This process, facilitated by a Curriculum Coach, will enable the teams to write inquiry-based curriculum that includes engineering concepts and practices, is aligned with nationally recognized standards, and employ research-based best practices for inclusive pedagogy. Since STEM education begins at K-12, a great deal of the preparation will fall on K-12 teachers. Participants will present their curriculum and design projects during an RET Conference and Symposium. Follow-on activities and meetings by the project team will facilitate project goals in STEM education by teachers as they work to incorporate their experiences into the classrooms. This three-year RET Site: Teacher POWER: Preparing Our Workforce through Electronics and Research supports the current national focus on advanced Electronics Materials, Packaging and Semiconductor (EMPS) activities and research. Initially, participants will engage in the Ohio Southwest Alliance on Semiconductors and Integrated Scalable-Manufacturing (OASiS) rapid certification program, a microcredential certificate for completing a series of hands-on learning and online educational modules focused on semiconductor technology. Participants will work under the guidance of a trained faculty research mentor and in collaboration with the undergraduate and graduate students associated with the faculty mentor’s laboratory. A significant effort will be made to align the research projects with the background and interests of the participants. CSU is a land grant HBCU, UD is a mid-size private university and WSU is a mid-size public university. Participants will have structured opportunities to develop as a cohort and share their research experiences with one another. Participants will be guided through a structured STEM curriculum development experience built on the TeachEngineering framework. A Curriculum Coach will facilitate the teams in writing inquiry-based curriculum that includes engineering concepts and practices, is aligned with nationally recognized standards, and employs research-based best practices for inclusive pedagogy. RET participants will present their curriculum and design projects during an RET Conference and Symposium. Follow-on activities and meetings by the project team will facilitate project goals in STEM education by teachers as they work to incorporate their experiences into the classrooms. 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.