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How do you measure RET success?

How do you measure RET success?. Kevin Dilley Cornell Center for Materials Research E-mail: kdilley@ccmr.cornell.edu Web: http//www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education. RET teacher Ann Casper in the control room of Cornell’s particle accelerator. RET I Program. Began in 1999 (23 teachers)

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How do you measure RET success?

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  1. How do you measure RET success? Kevin Dilley Cornell Center for Materials Research E-mail: kdilley@ccmr.cornell.edu Web: http//www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education RET teacher Ann Casper in the control room of Cornell’s particle accelerator

  2. RET I Program • Began in 1999 (23 teachers) • Middle and high school math and science teachers • School districts throughout New York State • Five teachers work as a team • Six-week summer program • Teachers housed on Cornell campus or travel is reimbursed Teachers learn to use the UHV-STEM from facility manager, Mick Thomas.

  3. RET I – Format • Five Shared Experimental Facilities • X-Ray Diffraction Facility • UVH STEM/SEM Laboratory • Electron and Optical Microscopy Facility • Materials Prep and Test Lab • Polymer Characterization Facility • Build physics demo/lab • Weekly presentations • Develop materials science curriculum project Math teacher Teddy Chao uses the Instron machine to test a sample he made in the materials facility.

  4. RET II Program • Began in 2001 (13 teachers) • Developed in response to teacher feedback • Previous RET I teachers • Six-week summer program • Concurrent with RET I • Work with faculty member • Develop materials science curriculum project • 3 high school teacher have been published as co-authors on scientific papers Middle school teacher Terri Husted works in Professor Uli Wiesner’s lab.

  5. Previous efforts Teacher feedback Participated in national survey conducted by Dr. Fiona Goodchild Used survey developed by Dr. Goodchild Current efforts Collaborate with State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland Education Department Professor Elizabeth Shiner Klein Professor Gail Tooker Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire (VNOS) Scientific content questions from facilities Classroom logs Evaluation Efforts

  6. Evaluation Goals • To assess the teachers’ understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of math, science, and technology in materials science (VNOS, Classroom logs) • To determine if the teachers’ understanding of science concepts and hands-on laboratory work has improved as a result of the RET program(VNOS, Content questions) • To determine how the RET program is translated into the classroom (Classroom logs) • To determine which areas of the RET program are most effective or need improvement (All)

  7. Views of Nature of Science • Given to RET I and RET II teachers before and after RET experience (9 teachers) • Sample questions • What makes science (or a scientific discipline such as physics, biology, etc.) different from other disciplines of inquiry (e.g., religion, philosophy)? • What is an experiment? • Is there a difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law? Illustrate your answer with an example. • Does the development of scientific knowledge require experiments?

  8. Views of Nature of Science • VNOS – Form A (Lederman and O’Malley 1990) • VNOS – Form B (Abd-El-Khalick et al. 1998) • VNOS – Form C (Abd-El-Khalick 1998) • 10 open-ended questions • Geared toward K-12 science education Reference: Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire: Toward Valid and Meaningful Assessment of Learners’ Conceptions of Nature of Science,Norm G. Lederman, Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Randy L. Bell, Rene´e S. Schwartz, JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 39, NO. 6, PP. 497–521 (2002)

  9. Written by facility managers Sample questions Circle the number that best represents x-rays on the electromagnetic spectrum shown below. Which of the following materials can be classified as a polymer? Polystyrene  Nylon  Rubber DNA  Cellulose Better resolution is achievable in an SEM when the… KV is: higher lower Beam current is: higher lower Working distance is: shorter longer Scientific Content

  10. Given to RET I teachers before and after time in the facilities (5 teachers) Scientific Content • 39 questions • Average • 14.6% increase

  11. Surveying all previous RET teachers Control group being identified Four weeks Teachers record Lecture/lab topic Hands-on activity? Description of lab Students’ attitude Classroom Logs

  12. How do you measure RET success? • Material science lessons developed • 3 teachers published in scientific journals • 1 teacher published in teaching journal • Results on 2003 evaluation project expected July 2004 http//www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education

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