ABSTRACTBeing a dedicated and enthusiastic high school science teacher is not enough to successfully prepare our children to take on the challenges of the 21st century and live up to its potential. We need high quality professional development opportunities in order to enrich our subject knowledge and teaching skills and reflect these skills in our craft. The Glenn Commission report, released ten years ago, details goals and associated action strategies included addressing professional development needs in order to deliver high-quality teaching as well as providing for teachers to engage in common study. We typically must scrutinize long lists of potential development opportunities to weigh the value of the program against the commitment of time and likelihood that intent of the training can be implemented. Beyond the training comes the quest for resources necessary for implementation and support to sustain the intent once new ideas and skills are brought back to school. Too often do teachers get their batteries charged from a professional development experience only to return to school where they become challenged to employ new skills or ideas and become further discouraged if there is no sustained support from the professional development sponsor. The best value-added programs that I have experienced are those where professional relationships can be forged through a significant and meaningful experience. Through these relationships, support networks can be established to help sustain knowledge and initiatives to provide a world-class education for our children.I have had the excellent fortune to experience a top quality professional development program at the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). My experience with the PCCM programs has demonstrated to me how a truly effective program can change lives. Over the past six consecutive summers I have gained invaluable experience starting with the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program and subsequent involvement with PUMA and other PCCM programs that have provided me with the necessary resources to improve my teaching skills, depth of knowledge in my discipline and enable me to sustain a higher quality science program at my school. Through the RET program, I engaged directly with professors for two consecutive summers who were enthusiastic about helping improve my teaching skills and supportive of my pursuit to improve the science program at my school. This experience has led to the development of two new courses I have been able to offer for the past four years in Chemistry and Materials Science designed to engage students through hands on experiences. It was this experience that became the catalyst for me to further collaborate with local industry professionals who joined my cause and also helped in the development of one of the two new courses. Through this short paper, I will expand on my professional development experiences over the past six years to demonstrate how others can maximize opportunities provided by MRSEC educational outreach programs.
Relevance, Rigor, and Relationships: Student Perceptions Following Participation in an Integrated Experiential Zoo-Based Academic High School Science Program
