Project Goals
The overarching goal of the project is to educate graduate students to be better communicators of their science, with K-12 teachers and students in particular, but with the broad community of non-scientists in general.
Our specific objectives are as follows:
A. Graduate Fellows will:
• learn to use inquiry-based pedagogy to become effective in teacher training, in K-12 schools, and in university teaching,
• understand the challenges and rewards of K-12 education, and the needs of K-12 teachers,
• translate their own research expertise into a K-12 learning environment, and
• share their involvement with the K-12 community with colleagues locally and nationally.
B. K-12 Teachers will:
• gain increased knowledge of STEM content and process,
• engage their students in real science and scientific research,
• become more aware of STEM resources at the U of M, and
• develop partnerships with University scientists (both faculty and graduate fellows).
C. K-12 students will:
• become more confident in science and more likely to see themselves as potential scientists,
• learn the process of science by participating in a broad array of research projects, and
• gain science content knowledge through the broad STEM expertise of the graduate fellows.