Meeting Abstract

P1.76  Wednesday, Jan. 4  The Experience of Research From a High School Teacher’s Perspective TESSMER, D*; TAYLOR, KR; NISHIKAWA, KC; Coconino Institute of Technology; Northern Arizona University; Northern Arizona University dtessmer@fusd1.org

To create a bridge between high school education and the world of research, it is critical to provide opportunities for high school teachers to experience authentic university research. Through these rewarding experiences, teachers, such as myself, become less intimidated, more informed, and eager to expose their students to this important career. Having the opportunity to join Dr. Nishikawa and her research laboratory for the summer through a generous NSF grant, I will share my insights, failures, frustrations and successes as a chemistry and physics teacher within a biological laboratory. Based on this exposure, I challenged my students to begin their own authentic research using an inquiry approach and simple technological tools such as the Arduino platform. I will present my students’ experiences with their initial attempts and results at collecting data and how this influenced their ideas about research.