News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Eight local educators will get to show off their works this week as part of a Tennessee Tech Research Experience for Teachers.
National Science Foundation funded the project. Chemical Engineering Professor Joseph Biernecki said the teachers worked in Tech Engineering Labs and created teaching modules to use in their classrooms. He said the the results will be presented at Tech on on July 21.
“These are really the final products,” Biernecki said. “What did they learn about doing research and what kind of research did they do? Those posters, the research posters are actually intended to be of the quality that they can go to a scientific conference.”
Biernecki said faculty members guide the teachers participate in baseline training and research workshops. He said the initial baseline activities prepare them for lab work.
Biernecki said laboratory safety and critical thinking were covered in workshops. He said they also covered how to use research literature with the assistance of a library specialist.
“We also do a workshop on keeping a laboratory diary which is extremely important,” Biernecki said. “So scientists need to learn to reflect on the information, the things that they learn.”
Biernecki said the notebook has a deliberate time set aside for the teachers to work on their reflections in the notebooks.
“Along with the real life real world research they are doing, they are also translating that into a module that they can drop into one or more classes,” Biernecki said.
Participants of the most recent Research Experience for Teachers will present their research and findings at The RET Site program, Energizing Teachers presentation on July 21 at 10 am at the new Laboratory Science Complex (LSC) on Stadium Drive.
