Click to view full size:
Research Experience for Teachers: Summer 2023
The Materials Research Laboratory at UC Santa Barbara sponsors a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program in which local science teachers are placed in UCSB research laboratories and receive a stipend for their participation. Teachers also develop a classroom project.
Local teacher Kevin Valdez and Materials PhD student Ryan Russell
This summer’s program saw successful research placements of local science teachers Laura Branch, William Webb, and Nicole Chung (pictured below) into a diverse set of UCSB materials science, chemistry and earth science research groups. Their project descriptions can be found on our program webpage. At the end of their various research projects, our RET teachers gave final presentations to the RET group and to members of their research groups. This years research presentations were recorded - please see the links below their pictures to view their presentations!
Melissa Moore, Lauren Smith, Lindsey Agnew, Steven Addison and Kevin Valdez, who conducted research projects in summer of 2022, developed their RET curriculum projects, which will be shared at our annual Science Teacher Workshop, to be held here at UCSB in Spring 2024 (date TBA).
Lauren Smith and Ecology PhD student Helen Payne
Summer Takeaways
Engaging in the hands-on practice of science, here at UCSB, is an impactful way to enhance your skills in the practice and communication of science. As you can see from the variety of projects, each teacher’s lab experience is unique. What these projects have in common is that each teacher is treated as a contributing scientist and challenged to study an authentic and current scientific problem. These experiences and the classroom exercises our teachers design will serve to engage their students’ interest and inquiry into the natural world. Interested in being part of our community? Please education [at] mrl [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (contact us) or visit us during our workshop, or consider applying to our RET summer program!
MRL Outreach Programs
The MRL was recently awarded a grant which will continue support of our education programs, which provide undergraduate research opportunities, graduate student training, and community outreach, including to k-12 students and teachers. (More information)
In the 2022-2023 school year MRL graduate students were able to visit and host various junior high and high school classrooms. We continue to offer materials science demonstrations and science inquiry by graduate students and MRL scientists, along with insights into active UCSB research.
(MRL scientists active in outreach and mentoring pictured below)
For details, please contact education [at] mrl [dot] ucsb [dot] edu
