POETS Kicks Off Research Experience for Teachers Program for 2017-18

Karin Alvarado

Teachers in the Research Experience for Teachers program use exothermic reaction to power car.

The U of A Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems in the College of Engineering's Department of Electrical Engineering kicked off the 2017-18 Research Experience for Teachers program on June 2.

The educators/teachers participating in the Research Experience for Teachers program — consisting of three science teachers and one math/science instructional facilitator from Hellstern Middle School and one science teacher from Farmington High School — met with faculty to learn more about their research focus within Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems and discuss ideas for this year's RET program.

Shannon Davis discussed the accomplishments of the previous RET program, the process to get those results and how the lesson plans and activities from last year are now available to any teacher who wishes to use them through the Center for Math and Science Education as well as the other five centers around the state of Arkansas dedicated to the STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Since the lesson plans and activities meet current Next Generation Science Standards, they are useful to anyone in the country.

A follow-up meeting with teachers was held on July 20 to include Joe Muskin, education coordinator for the Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems and based out of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. He discussed the RET educational material as a whole and how we can build on each other's successes.