Office of Research, Measurement and Evaluation
Grants - GK12: I Can Do Science (KIDS)
http://gk12.uark.edu
National Science Foundation Award #0139570
Principal Investigator: Art Hobson, Physics
Co-Principal Investigators: Greg Salamo, Physics, Gay Stewart, Physics Education, Ronna Turner, Educational Research Methods, Lynne Hehr, Education, Denise Airola, Fayetteville Public Schools
The National Science Foundation, with matching funds from the University of Arkansas, awarded $2.75 million to develop a partnership between science and engineering pre-professionals and local schools to provide an inquiry-based science, technology, and mathematics education to middle school students. The primary focus of the GK12 I Can Do Science! (KIDS) experiment is the development of a partnership between pre-professional scientists and the K-12 educational system.
The primary and long-term goal is the development of an on-going connection between the math, science, and engineering industry and public education in Arkansas. The program focuses on 1) increasing pre-professional scientists’ and engineers’ knowledge of the needs of the K-12 educational system and ways they can collaborate with their local educational agencies, and 2) increasing their expectation and desire to collaborate with their local school systems after entering the business and industry fields.
More immediate goals include increasing teachers’ and graduate students’ perception and implementation of inquiry-based educational activities in the classroom, increasing teachers’ technical, research, and content-based skills in the areas of science and math, and increasing graduate students’ knowledge of the academic process and educational needs. Further, the immediate goal for middle school students is to increase their perception of, interest in, confidence in completing, perceived usefulness of, and academic performance in science and math. The long-term goal for middle school students is to increase their attendance in advanced math and science courses in high school, and increase their interest in selecting science, technology, and math-related careers and/or degree programs after graduation from high school.
The evaluation plan includes the obtainment of longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data from the majority of stakeholders including the science, math, and engineering graduate students, participating and non-participating K-12 teachers, middle school students in both treatment and “control” groups, and parents.
Link for
GK12 Student Survey
Additional link:
http://www.nsf.gov
