RET Site: Atomic Scale Design and Engineering for Sustainable Solutions

About This Grant

This Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program equips teachers with the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to teach nanotechnology to their students including the equipment and techniques that are used to fabricate or manufacture at the nanoscale, ways to “see” and identify atoms in a manufactured structure, and the ability to relate research to real-world applications. Nanotechnology is impacting sectors as diverse as medicine, textiles, and electronics including quantum. However, concepts in nanotechnology are often complex and teachers are not readily exposed to tools and techniques because of their expense or availability. This RET program immerses teachers in state-of-the-art research laboratories to learn nanotechnology concepts and contribute to a larger research project. Educators develop unique curricula that they share with hundreds of students in their classrooms, schools, and districts, engaging students in innovative engineering research and advanced technologies. The research focus is timely as the demands for a skilled U.S. technical workforce increase. This program provides educators the experiences, knowledge, and tools needed to communicate the underlying science effectively, allowing them to train a generation of students who better understand nanotechnology and its role in addressing societal grand challenges. By developing curricula that cross multiple grade levels, teachers create a foundation of nanoscience knowledge that is reinforced as students progress academically. They inspire and prepare their students for engineering careers founded in nanotechnology, a field where demand for skilled workers is expected to grow substantially in the coming decade. Teachers' professional development is enabled through participation in university research projects as well as tours and usage of nanotechnology core facilities at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University). Participants are recruited from North Carolina school districts and community colleges. Teams of 2-3 teachers are assembled to enable nano-focused curriculum development integrated across multiple grades. Each team is advised by a faculty research mentor at one of the academic institutions. Participants create and characterize nanoscale materials or devices, connect their work to real-world applications, and gain experience with state-of-the-art research tools and techniques. Currently, most K-12 and community college students have limited access to this field and the resources necessary to support nanotechnology fabrication and development. The first week is dedicated to orientation activities; the following weeks weave project work with curricular development. To cap off the program, educator teams finalize curricular materials and share their research experiences with fellow RET participants in a symposium. Upon return to their home institutions, educators implement their curricula and continue to work with open-access user facilities at the participating universities. Teachers also strengthen their relationship with the universities and reinforce students’ understanding of size and scale through a cohort-wide citizen scientist project that connects their classrooms to ongoing research at the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, an NSF-funded Science and Technology Center. By training the trainers (i.e., teachers), this program has the potential to impact thousands of students and to encourage their pursuit of STEM careers. 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.