An NSF RET site directed by faculty at the Speed School of Engineering and the College of Education and Human Development.
Download 2022 RET Application Form
The new RET 2022 brochure
This award creates a new Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site focused on Big Data and data science at the University of Louisville. Each summer, ten high school Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) teachers will participate in research activities with faculty in labs at the University of Louisville. The teachers will be recruited from Jefferson County Public Schools and the Ohio Valley Education Consortium. Teachers in this site will apply fundamental data science techniques and learn Big Data principles while investigating real world problems with social relevance. The fast pace of low-cost technological innovation and data-centered operations have led to an explosion of data that can be used to solve problems and provide new insights for the future. This includes projects involving areas such as human welfare, healthcare, smart cities, and robotics. The participating teachers will translate their research experiences and knowledge into classroom practice by developing instructional modules and course materials that they will introduce in their classrooms and share with other teachers in their school districts. These activities all contribute to the formation of a community of practice in partnership with the University of Louisville faculty mentors that has the potential to significantly enhance STEM education in the participating school districts.
Goals
- Provide quality research experiences in Big Data and Data Science for the teachers.
- Strengthen the connection between the computing faculty and the school district.
- Enhance high school science teachers’ understanding of engineering research design and Computational Thinking through authentic research experiences in Big Data applications.
- Strengthen high school science teachers’ pedagogical understanding of how to teach students engineering design principles and the practice of Computational Thinking in alignment with Next Generation Science Standards.
- Support high school science teachers to strongly incorporate their engineering research experiences into their teaching, focusing on enhancing engineering design and Computational Thinking in the high school curriculum.
- Prepare and support engineering graduate students and university faculty to assist with the content needs of high school STEM teachers and to become aware of research-based pedagogies used with high school students in the context of the Next Generation Science Standards.