Education in Cutting-edge Research Expands from the University to K-12 Classrooms
by Lana Hoff
Colorado State University is cultivating a new generation of experts in the fields of biomedical science and engineering. In addition to traditional research and scientific training, several CSU graduate students representing the STEM disciplines - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - are receiving specialized training in ethics, communication, and leadership skills that will, in turn, help them train tomorrow’s work force.
The students are funded under a new $2.7 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to Colorado State University this year. The first class of graduate fellows began the program on June 1, and these students are spending the summer interacting with K-12 teachers from five participating high schools in Northern Colorado.
Dr. Tom Chen, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is principal investigator on the multidisciplinary grant, collaborating with CSU professors Stuart Tobet, Michael De Miranda, Chuck Henry, and Vakhtang Putkaradze. Their goal is twofold.
In order to boost enrollments across the STEM disciplines, they are equipping future scientists and practicing engineers with the skills to translate state-of-the-art research and scientific knowledge to the K-12 teachers and students.
“We want to get K-12 kids more excited about science and engineering,” says Chen, “and to create some linkage between what they learn in school and what the cutting-edge science and technology is all about, so they can see how it’s actually used by scientists and engineers.”
In the U.S., the number of engineering jobs is expected to grow 25 to 30 percent by the end of the 21st century, but the annual graduation rate in engineering has decreased by roughly 20 percent in the last decade. By preparing graduate students to communicate the excitement of scientific exploration and discovery to today’s youth, the NSF program aims to turn around the shrinking science and engineering college enrollments.
In addition to classical laboratory research, NSF requires the graduate student fellows to work alongside teachers in K-12 schools. ”Education is an important piece of the project,” says Chen. “Each graduate student fellow is paired with a mentor teacher for the entire school year, getting a first-hand look at how educators work.” Dr. Michael de Miranda is responsible for training the graduate fellows in critical pedagogy, Colorado K-12 standards, and communication skills. De Miranda is an engineering education professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences and a co-principal investigator on the grant.
The second goal of the project, and another benefit of the multidisciplinary team approach, is to advance the current understanding of how cells communicate among themselves. Chen is working with co-PI Dr. Stuart Tobet, a biomedical sciences professor, and Dr. Chuck Henry, a chemistry professor, to test new theories about how cells behave, using advanced engineering methods in microelectronics and electrochemistry.
“My research interest is in micro- and nano-scale silicon technology, and my lab is engaged in designing and building silicon chips for computing and communication applications,” says Chen.
Tobet’s group wanted to find a more reliable way of measuring how various chemical compounds/cells move in living tissues and how concentrations influence their movement, in order to enhance their understanding of how living organs, such as the brain, works.
The use of integrated sensor systems on silicon chips to monitor cell-to-cell communication in living tissues enhances biomedical research and development beyond the existing method of relying on fluorescent dyes solely to track what’s going on in living tissues.
Chen, Tobet, and Henry are core professors in the School of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering.
With the support of Dr. Vakhtang Putkaradze, a mathematics professor, the team will also be able to use mathematical modeling to help understand the complexities of the biological process.
Involvement by industry partners is another key element of the grant. “We incorporate industry experience into these activities. For example, Avago Technologies in Fort Collins provides our graduate fellows, teachers, and students a window into how the industry works,” Chen explains. “The fellows, K-12 teachers, and their students ultimately will be able to interact with companies such as Avago to gain a better understanding of how academic research and industrial R&D can interact and mutually benefit from each other, and how the knowledge taught in those disciplines is applied in industry.”
Avago is not the only company involved. ADInstruments is providing expertise in measurement equipment and technologies, enabling students to see first-hand the industry technology behind biological science measurements. And Leeds, a small biological company, is offering their expertise in microscope technologies.
These laboratory, classroom, and industry experiences come together under the NSF grant to provide unique training for current and future educators and researchers. Through in-depth discussions with CSU faculty, graduate students, and industry, K-12 teachers are learning new concepts such as silicon-based biosensor circuits and systems, and electrochemical methods of sensing and measurement. Following the presentations and tours, the K-12 teachers can then brainstorm with the graduate students about how to incorporate these concepts in the classroom, selecting from a variety of teaching methods such as demonstrations, modules, or show-and-tells to enhance what the teachers are already doing in class.
“The ultimate application of the laboratory research is to provide scientific aid using modern instrumentation and silicon technology to allow us to detect clinical conditions such as epilepsy, strokes, or infertility,” says Chen. “We are doing basic scientific research using advanced silicon technology and engineering methods to provide the apparatus and models to enable scientists to discover conditions like these in the future.”