Program Details
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Phillip O. Berry
Academy of Technology, a new high school located within the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, are jointly creating a series of activities
that prepare science, engineering and computer science, and mathematics
graduate students to act as resource persons in high school classrooms and
the teachers in those classrooms to work effectively with them.
UNC
Charlotte faculty serve as the instructional staff for eight- one day workshops
each summer for the Fellows and cooperating high school teachers.
Participating Berry Academy teachers and selected GK-12 Fellows serve as
workshop leaders each summer for new cohorts of Fellows and teachers.
These workshops focus on policy regulations for working in K-12
schools, school safety, and pedagogy instruction, and include a
curriculum-sequencing guide that is aligned with the North Carolina Standard
Course of Study for the courses being taught the subsequent fall semester.
During the academic year weekly seminars taught by UNC Charlotte faculty
develop specific inquiry-based activities in science and mathematics for
each course according to the sequencing guide. Each high
school mathematics and science course affected is organized thematically
addressing four program strands: the nature of science, science as inquiry,
science and technology, and science in social and personal perspectives.
The
Fellows receive special preparation in teaching science as inquiry, in the
use of NSF supported, research-based mathematics materials, and in the
integration of technology in instruction. There are numerous broad
impacts. Over the three years of its action more than 4800 high school
students (approximately 82% minority) and over 25 high school teachers will
be directly or indirectly impacted.
In addition the
activities encompass more than just classroom work. A
website will come as a conduit between university mathematics and
science faculty, project staff and high school mathematics and science
teachers and students. This site acts as a forum for posting questions and
answers, as a source of information concerning scheduled project activities,
and as a resource for database sharing.
A broad spectrum
of teachers are benefiting as the cooperating high school teachers are
serving as resource persons for other teachers at Berry Academy of
Technology and, along with the Fellows, are developing and teaching two
area-specific day long workshops during the school year. In addition, a
grade-specific activity book is being developed for distribution to all
Berry Academy teachers. Part of the support for this project comes from the
Directorate for Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
The deadline for
applying to the GK-12 Fellowship is March 1.
Eligibility & Application
Form |