Middle and High School Teachers Partner with Clemson Scientists to Bring Research into Classrooms
Randy Hutchison, a physics teacher from Greer High School, plans to use his RET experience back in his classroom by teaching about the force balance between gravity and surface tension in capillary tubes. He will then have students explore how they are used in dialysis machines.
This is just one example of the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) that took place at Clemson over the summer. Through a six-week research internship, eight participating teachers have come to understand the research process by delving into the intricate details of a technical project. The teachers have worked on projects with faculty and graduate students in bioengineering, biological sciences, chemical engineering, chemistry, materials science and engineering, and math sciences at Clemson and at Clark Atlanta University.
Cindy Griffis, a ninth-grade science teacher from Carver Junior High School in Spartanburg, said the experience has given her new ideas and perspective.
“Being in the program has provided me with the opportunity to dream and explore new ways to teach the concepts I'm required to teach,” she said.
Participants in this year’s program, along with Hutchison and Griffis, included Brenda Hungerford, T.L. Hanna High School, Anderson; Anthony Sayster, Central High School, Pageland; Amy Ray, Berea High School, Greenville; Ellen Zielinski, R.C. Edwards Middle School, Central; and Sharon Harper and Venecia Stewart, Campbell High School, Atlanta, Ga.
RET program directors are Lisa Benson from Clemson and Eric Mintz from Clark Atlanta University. The Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films (CAEFF) received funding for the RET Program from the National Science Foundation.
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