Inspiring educators to continue their life long learning journey.
The goal of the RET Site for Sustainable Polymer Engineering Research (RET) in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering (SPSE) at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is to develop long-term professional relationships between faculty researchers and local teachers by providing meaningful research experiences in relevant polymer engineering research efforts and establishing follow-up activities to extend the impact of the program throughout the school year. To that end, teachers and community college faculty are engaged in a six-week summer research and training program in cutting edge research in sustainable polymer engineering research. Integrated with the research experience are education and professional development programs, including team-building workshops, short courses in polymer science, presentation skills development, field trips, and workshops in developing activities for laboratory experiments based on their research. The other primary goal is to schedule interactions throughout the year to maintain engagement with teachers.
Program Objectives
Teachers will engage in cutting-edge research under the guidance of a faculty and graduate student mentor for 6 weeks - full time.
Teachers will produce a lesson or unit during the summer that will help translate summer learning into activities for use in the classroom. Education specialists will support teachers in developing these learning experiences during professional development sessions.
Teachers will attend professional development sessions in the areas of oral and science communication.
Program Highlights
6-weeks full- time laboratory experience
$5500 teacher stipend
$1000 Classroom supplies allowance to incorporate research experience into classroom and curriculum
Teachers are given the opportunity to present at the NSF Virtual RET Poster Session, MSTA Annual Conference or the ACS Conference. They receive a $250 for attending and travel is reimbursed to the value of $1000
$1250 stipend is allocated to teachers who host a graduate student in their classroom to observe their planned lesson in the Spring and the Fall, attend a field trip in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering and publish in Teach Engineering
License Renewal Credit Available. Cost for credit paid by the teacher
All programs take place at the University of Southern Mississippi in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering
Teachers will develop strong relationships with researchers and their teams from the University of Southern Mississippi through small group discussions about their research and develop strategic parternerships to help bring new ideas to the classroom.
Teachers will publish developed activities and experiments in “Teach Engineering” or other academic avenues.
