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Research Experience for Teachers (RET)

The Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program is funded by the a National Science Foundation. It provides a professional development opportunity to K-12 science teachers by placing them in a research laboratory during the summer. The program that has been established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) focuses on materials science and science at the nanoscale, the scale of atoms. The RET program puts teachers from around the state into materials research facilities at the University in order to 1) get teachers more comfortable with the tools, language, and processes of science and 2) have teachers create learning modules based on their research for use in their classroom. The MRSEC then disseminates those learning modules through our website, field trips, and professional development workshops with the goal of increasing the general public's awareness and involvement in science. In recent years the RET program has worked with three Madison, WI middle and high school teachers to create modules relating to advanced and nanoscale materials including shape memory alloys and light emitting diodes. The modules also contain information about how scientist know where atoms are located in a material using the methods of x-ray diffraction and scanning probe microscopy. 

 

Education Program Type: 
Research Experience for Teachers (RET)