The School of Engineering and Computer Science at Oakland University was awarded by the National Science Foundation a grant entitled “Research Experience for Teachers in Alternative Energy and Automotive Engineering: Energize K-12 Teaching and Learning.” This is a three year program starting on Oct 1, 2015.
The objective of the proposed RET site is to strengthen K-12 education in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines by each year involving around 12 middle and high school science and mathematics teachers and pre-service teachers from the metro-Detroit area in multidisciplinary and cutting edge research on alternative energy and automotive engineering for 6 weeks during the summer at Oakland University (OU). In the past summer, a total of 11 teachers have taken part in the RET program at Oakland University.
This paper will focus on the organization of this program including recruitment, on-site orientation, on-site activities and post-program assessment. Also, the lessons learned from running this type of program will be summarized. Some suggestions to keep the sustainability of the program will be also provided.
Dr. Xia Wang is an associate professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Oakland University. Her research and teaching interests lie in the areas of fluid mechanics and heat transfer, with an emphasis on fuel cell and battery technology. She was the program director for the NSF-funded project entitled “Research Experience for Teachers in Alternative Energy and Automotive Engineering: Energize K-12 Teaching and Learning" at Oakland University.
Dr. Bowe is an Assistant Professor at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan. She earned a Ph.D. in Education Psychology with a focus in Quantitative Methods in Education. Her interests are in evaluation practices for school-based initiatives, instrument development, the psycho-social development of immigrant adolescents, and education evaluation within the Caribbean.
Brian K. Dean is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oakland University. He received the B.S.E.E. for the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, USA in 2006, the M.S.E.E. in 2008, and the Ph.D. in 2012. Dr. De
Director of Outreach, Recruitment and Retention, and Associate Professor
School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS)
Director of Engineering and Energy Education
OU Inc Clean Energy Research Center (CERC)
OU Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) Faculty Fellow
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