| The NSF Center for Extreme
Ultraviolet (EUV) Science and Technology, an Engineering Research Center
(ERC), sponsored seven middle school teachers in the summer of 2008 for
the second year of the EUV Center’s Research Experience for Teachers (RET)
program. Four of the teachers conducted research in labs at the two Colorado
partners of the EUV (Colorado State University and the University of Colorado
at Boulder) while three teachers did their research at the University of
California at Berkeley. Over the course of six weeks, teachers assisted
in projects that revolved around the themes of UV light, lasers, and optics.
Complementing the teachers’
laboratory experiences were two weekly seminars – one by a research scientist
from the EUV ERC and one conducted by the Center’s Education Director –
that included in-depth discussions of new approaches to teaching, as well
as the development of hands-on, inquiry-based, experiments that teachers
could use in their own classrooms. In addition, all of the teachers
gathered in Colorado during one week for an RET retreat. During this period,
the teachers toured lab facilities, went on field trips, and worked extensively
on developing a curriculum for their classrooms.
The curriculum that was developed
resulted in a teachable unit called Light & Color. At the beginning
of the summer, teachers were required to bring with them a lesson plan
that they had used previously in the classroom that involved color, light,
or optics. All of these lesson plans were reviewed by the teachers during
the one-week RET retreat and, based on the teacher’s experiences in the
lab and the weekly seminar content, they modified their lesson plans. The
final plans were assembled into the Light & Color unit. During the
Fall of 2008, the EUV Education Director compiled the materials for the
Light & Color unit and distributed the kit to the teachers for them
to test-pilot in the classroom. As of January 2009, three teachers had
used their kits in the classroom. |
