Developing an Appreciation of the Basic Principles in Earth Sciences, Physics, and Mathematics supporting Careers of the Future through Workshops for Pre-College Teachers

摘要

On September 26, 2002, the National Institute of Aerospace, NIA, was created near NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA as a result of a winning proposal submitted from the AIAA and a 6-university team in response to a broad agency announcement. Our proposal emphasized these four imperatives to: 1. Conduct leading edge aerospace & atmospheric science research and develop revolutionary new technologies by creating innovative, collaborative, synergistic partnerships among NASA's Langley Research Center, academia, and industry, 2. Provide comprehensive graduate and continuing education in science and engineering by using both a local campus and exploiting innovative distance-learning concepts, 3. Incubate and stimulate the commercialization of new intellectual property developed through the Institute's activities, including radical ideas and disruptive technologies, and 4. Promote aerospace science and engineering and provide outreach to the region arid nation. As part of the fourth imperative, we specifically proposed to develop and conduct summer workshops for grade 6-12 teachers. This paper describes our experiences in planning and conducting our first teacher workshop in July, 2003.