Since 2005 the author has provided community college science and engineering students the opportunity to conduct substantive summer research projects in the areas of materials science, physical sciences, engineering disciplines and other multidisciplinary research areas. To date, nineteen students have participated in research experiences at regional universities and NASA-Johnson Space Center. This paper will examine the genesis of the program, providing an overview of the program structure, the role that materials research has played in the success of the various student experiences, and thoughts on future directions and improvements.

We describe how students explore materials science concepts using animated interactive spreadsheets. An engaging pedagogy is created in the classroom using spreadsheets in a way that initially camouflages mathematical complexity, which can later be revealed and taught. Use of off-the-shelf spreadsheet software, including freeware makes these spreadsheets universally available.

There is an acute and well-documented need for image processing of microscopy data in materials science regarding, for example, the characterization of the structure/property relationship of a given materials system. In our work, image processing has been used as a framework for conducting interdisciplinary team-based research that effectively integrates programs within the Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), e.g. research experiences for undergraduates (REU), teachers (RET) and high school fellowships. This research resulted from a five-year long collaboration between CRISP and the Physics and Computer Science Departments at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). This paper will focus on the implementation of team-based research experiences as a vehicle for interdisciplinary science and education. Representative results of several of the studies are presented and discussed.

There has been considerable interest in developing curricular programs and materials for teaching undergraduate courses in nanoscience in the United States and other developed countries in the past decade. Materials science and nanoscience research programs are growing in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia. However, there still exists a significant disconnect between the research efforts in developing countries and undergraduate coursework. This report will focus on the teaching of an upper-division one semester lecture/laboratory course developed at James Madison University (JMU) called “The Science of the Small: An Introduction to the Nanoworld” taught in the School of Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg (UKZN-PMB), South Africa in 2009 through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program. We report insights into the preparation needed to teach a cutting-edge laboratory course in South Africa. Also addressed will be some of the challenges of teaching an instrument-intensive laboratory course in a developing country, academic preparation of the typical native isiZulu-speaking UKZN undergraduate student compared to a typical U.S. student, and pre and post attitudes and content assessment of students who were enrolled in the course. Further discussed will be observations of post-apartheid science and math education in South Africa, and the beginning of a pilot program bringing South African undergraduate students to the U.S. to gain undergraduate research experience.

Over the past three years the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University have conducted a study-abroad course for ISU undergraduates in a small, isolated, village in the country of Mali, in western, sub-Saharan Africa. Most, if not all, of the people in the village live under conditions that the World Bank refers to as extreme poverty. The focus of the course is on the development of sustainable technologies that are appropriate for the people in this village and villages similar to it. Our goal is to offer students a chance to develop such technologies, in the end changing how they view engineering and their role as engineers. One of the challenges of the course is how to integrate this high value off-campus experience into the on-campus curriculum. To do this we have linked two on-campus sustainable engineering courses (sustainable engineering systems and appropriate technology design) with this study abroad course. In this paper, we discuss the course in more detail, with a focus on an assessment of how well we are meeting our objectives. We shall also discuss the challenges of holding such a course and will offer some advice for those who may wish to venture along the same path.

The absence of engineering from K-12 curricula and mainstream media often causes students to refer back to historical stereotypes regarding what engineers look like and the type of work they do. Such misconceptions may prevent high school students from pursuing engineering as a field of study and increase the need for engineering educational programs [1]. Nano-Challenge is an outreach program that orients high school students to engineering through a one-year research internship. The program is held at the Center for Nanoscale Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMMS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A major focus of the program is to involve students from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields and inform them about engineering earlier in their careers. An external program evaluation provides anecdotal information about the students’ experiences and gives feedback to inform program improvement.

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field that examines the structure-property relationships in matter for its applications to many areas of science and engineering. Providing a means for intuitive development of understanding of these relationships by young learners and university undergraduates alike is critical. The effectiveness of an immersive low-cost 3D virtual reality (VR) environment was evaluated during a pilot study sponsored by the Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS) program. The 3D VR environment involves the use of a specialized display, sensors, computers, and immersive visual technology equipment. In collaboration with Cognitive Science investigators, our research focused on understanding the impact of the 3D VR environment on the visual ability to perceive structures in three dimensions and on quantifying the learning of COINS participants. The premise was to measure the learning of undergraduate participants in activities designed to evaluate the quality of the learning environment. Our investigation consisted of three stages in which participants learned about carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via traditional methods, physical models and virtual models. Traditional methods (2D projection graphs) were not appealing to participants and did not facilitate depth perception. Physical (ball-and-stick) models motivated participants by allowing interactivity but bond distance/angle measurements were tedious. Virtual models (3D models) offered complete manipulation, real-time measurements and the capability of mimicking realistic atomic forces (attractive/repulsive), giving the user a better insight into the structure of CNTs compared to previous methods. While immersive environments offer virtual models with some of the same benefits of physical models, it is the extended features (e.g. accurate distance representation, computer simulations capability and analysis tools for further investigations) that suggest such environments as effective learning tools for materials science education. Preliminary data analysis suggests that highly accurate perception of a molecular structure is facilitated by the use of immersive environments in which the operator may manipulate and measure important intrinsic information about the structure. Moreover, computer simulations of materials are of great scientific interest for technological progress. We are presently working on the development of the immersive 3D VR environment to perform atomistic simulations to enable scientists to perform accelerated calculations to solve problems with performance enhancements over conventional methods. Another important value in the immersive 3D VR environment lies in its expanded use for multi-disciplinary research, influencing structure-dependent applications, science learning, and design of nanodevices in fields such as materials science, chemistry, engineering, cognitive science, nanotechnology, and computer science among others.

Material science can be used to enrich secondary school curriculum and illuminate for students the connection between science and technology. Based on materials research being conducted at the University of Illinois, we have developed an interdisciplinary activity that integrates engineering with chemistry and material science.

Students investigate the behaviors of polymers by creating 3-dimensional (3-D) objects. Students can design objects that they “print” on the order of a cubic inch in about 20 minutes. The process students use to create these objects shows the application of engineering to material science in a novel and engaging way.

A photoactive chemical is initiated by the UV and blue light emitted from a data projector. This causes the formation of free radicals, which interact with molecules of a monomer and cause a polymerization reaction. The visual result of this reaction is that a liquid solidifies where students shine light. With black-and-white images, a data projector can direct the light to form any shape. This process can be easily modified to create true 3-D objects by adding another layer of the liquid to the top of the object and then shining the light again. With about 20 dollars worth of supplies from a hardware store, a simple staging device can be created to greatly simplify the process to create a 3-D printer in the classroom. Fabrication of this device can be done by students because the projector controls the x and y array of pixels; the object only needs to move in the z direction, unlike traditional rapid prototyping machines which control movement in the x, y, and z directions.

Results of integration into high school and college curriculum are discussed, and methods of integration and student perceptions of the activity are reported.

In this study, the authors focused on children from 2-8 years of age and asked the simple question: what do engineers do? The number one response was: “I don’t know”, the number two response was “they drive a train.” While children are very familiar with professionals such as doctors, teachers, nurses, firefighters and policemen, they are rarely introduced to engineers. With this motivation, the authors developed a novel children’s book on engineering: Engineering Elephants. This book is an outreach tool that introduces children to the dynamic world of engineering design through roller coasters, fireworks, and a plethora of other exciting adventures. The book teaches children about relevant topics such as nanotechnology, renewable energy, and prosthetics by engaging them through an interactive journey of an elephant and his questioning of the world around him. The text was strategically developed using the language of science (asking questions) and introducing vocabulary relevant to science and math using a lyrical pattern. This presentation will highlight the development of this book as an instructional aid but also detail the response of various age groups to engineering activities presented as a companion to this book. In particular, an elementary school district in West Texas designed a 4-5th grade 3-week summer school curriculum around this book. Results from this study will have an impact on future generations by inspiring them to consider the exciting profession of engineering at an early age.

Since 2005, the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM) has co-facilitated materials science and engineering (MSE) clubs at low-income middle and high schools in Western Puerto Rico to increase awareness and interest in the areas of materials science, nanotechnology, and engineering. In this article, we describe the club activities and share the results of the 2009 end-of-year assessment regarding knowledge, interest, and educational aspirations in MSE, along with differences based on gender, parent education level, and school level. Overall, participants expressed positive opinions about engineering as a career. While students expressed high interest in pursuing university studies in science and engineering, some differences became apparent based on gender, parent education level, and school level. There were also differences between boys and girls in perceived knowledge gains. The results of this assessment provide promising evidence that school-based MSE clubs may help attract underserved students into the MSE pipeline.

Nanotechnology, a field interested in materials with features smaller than 100 nanometers and possessing novel properties, is a field that is unquestionably in a period of rapid growth. As the limits of existing technologies are pressed, the need arises for faster, better, and stronger materials and devices. Manipulation of matter on the nanoscale is quickly becoming the next frontier of materials and technology. Due to the scale of the phenomena and the exploratory nature of nanoscience and nanotechnology, a high degree of knowledge in many diverse fields is required. This requires a centralized presentation to students in order to best teach them the required knowledge.

In the past, knowledge has mostly been transferred hand-to-hand on an active level. However, in modern education, the classroom and lectures take a more active role. With this rise, the position and focus of hands-on work has diminished [1], while at the same time undergraduates remain isolated from research being conducted at universities [2]. With the broad nature of nanoscience and nanotechnology, it is becoming more important to maximize students’ learning ability in order to train future researchers and workforce. This paper explores the impact of a hands-on research experience in undergraduate nanotechnology education. This experience is presented to show the importance of student involvement on hands-on projects for their learning process.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) evaluates grant applications based on two criteria: intellectual merit and broader impact. The broader impact criterion (BIC), or the science outreach criterion, is intended to connect science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) research to the general public, and has grown in its relevance for successful grants. A method to increase the competitiveness of a grant application and, in turn, the quality of science outreach programs is to suggest successful science outreach models for connecting scientists to the public. Science Saturdays is a fun science lecture series for the general public that is a simple, scalable, and transferable model. Its main mission is to introduce participants to excellent communicators of science and to shatter stereotypes about those who do science. It aims to inspire and motivate children as they traverse the STEM pipeline by emphasizing that science is fun. This paper discusses the elements needed to create this outreach program and the lessons learned from its development.

One consequence of “high stakes testing” in Tuscaloosa area schools has been exclusion of materials science faculty from any meaningful participation in middle and high school classrooms. Beyond the loss of resources from the classroom that Materials Science faculty and their students represent, this also has negative consequences for faculty wanting to build ties to schools to address NSF’s “broader impact” criteria. A group of STEM and Education faculty at The University of Alabama have been testing a team based approach designed to overcome the systemic constraints that prevent effective STEM/K-12 collaboration. Teams consisting of a high school teacher, a STEM faculty member, and a STEM graduate student have spent three weeks during summer 2010 to identify/develop and implement an inquiry based science experiments. The experiments are being tested on science campers at McWane Science Center prior to being assessed in the teachers’ classrooms during the fall semester. The experiments were chosen by each team and represent significant advances over those currently available in the schools. By setting a problem that no team member is able to solve alone an environment was produced where success requires meaningful collaboration. Preliminary qualitative evaluation indicates deeper understanding of the school environment by the STEM faculty and greater respect for the skills teachers bring to this endeavor. Successes in this pilot program have generated credibility with the local school district, opening the door to scaling up the project, and developing further positive ties. Incorporation of lead teachers from Alabama Science in Motion also allows the experiments developed to be widely disseminated throughout Alabama, as well as providing a mechanism to identify existing experiments to enhance.