Our education research focuses on efforts to attract and retain a more diverse body of students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We have a continuing project on teaching high school students about sustainable materials through a 2-week long short course. We have also partnered with a museum to create an interactive exhibit on microplastics, and studied what the visitors learned and took away from their time there; in the future, we will be moving this exhibit to the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. For more details, click on the links below!
Educational Research
Teaching high school students about sustainable materialsInforming the public about microplastics pollution
We partnered with the Dossin Great Lakes Museum to create a museum exhibit that informs the public about microplastics pollution. Our research focused on the collaborative design process and what the public learned from interacting with the exhibit. To read the paper, click here.
Michigan Math & Science Scholars (MMSS) Program
This annual two-week summer camp serves to provide high school students with foundational skills in science and encourage them to pursue higher education in STEM fields. Our course focuses on topics within polymer science while providing the students with fundamentals of organic chemistry. Specifically, the focus is on sustainable polymers, ranging from understanding the environmental impact of polymers as well as methods for making more sustainable materials. The lab activities are designed to include experiments designed by the students, allowing them to formulate and test hypotheses based-off results obtained from previous experiments. These trials simulated what a “real” research lab workflow is like. Additionally, we include short field trips to demonstrate how the polymers they used in lab (e.g., polylactic acid) are found in real applications (e.g., 3D printing). We also include a creative project in the course, where students work in small groups to research and then create a stop-motion film to present to the class and post on YouTube. The structure of course gives them the tools to learn fundamental lab skills and the opportunity to independently learn more about specific areas that were of high interest to them. To keep with the program’s mission and encourage these student to continue to cultivate their scientific interests in the future, we include an undergraduate panel to discuss how to select, apply, and thrive in college. Additionally, there are many opportunities for the students to informally discuss their inquiries with the course instructors. The course is typically met with positive feedback from the students. Ongoing assessments are being used to evaluate student learning and course impact on their career aspirations.
