Research Experience for Teachers: Teachers as Learners and Facilitators

A National Science Foundation Research Experience for Teachers site has hosted authentic research in machine learning for 20 middle grades and secondary STEM teachers who are either members of underrepresented groups in computer science and engineering or who teach students from underrepresented groups. These teachers are evaluated by their districts, in part, by using the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Educator Standards. The seven ISTE Standards for Educators were used to evaluate the learning of teachers in the RET program after a six week research experience in graduate research groups at a metropolitan research university in the south central U.S. From participation in focus groups and program products such as seminar presentations, we found that teachers expressed value in being able to feel like a student again (ISTE Standard #1; Teacher as Learner). Additionally, teachers expressed that thinking critically and using problem solving skills in an area which they were not familiar offered necessary insight towards how their own students might feel at times. RET participants felt they were forced to use problem solving skills and figure things out on their own, which in turn led to them wanting to provide that same experience for their own students (ISTE Standard #6: Teacher as Facilitator). Some participants alluded to incorporating more real-life data to challenge their students to apply their learning with real life problems and challenges. While this was largely the sentiment of the group, other individual participants referenced being more qualified to meet the teaching standards they are held accountable to by their school, as well as influencing the overall curriculum and approach to how their school teaches physics and engineering.