{"id":52544,"date":"2023-08-10T07:57:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T11:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=52544"},"modified":"2025-08-10T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T14:57:40","slug":"research-experience-for-teachers-mixes-collegiate-research-with-k-12-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/08\/research-experience-for-teachers-mixes-collegiate-research-with-k-12-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Experience for Teachers mixes collegiate research with K-12 teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Juney

Juney Shober talks to University High students during their first day on campus Aug. 9. Shober recently participated in a six-week Research Experience for Teachers program led by UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science faculty. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

The challenge was tasty: Make pavement out of chocolate and graham crackers. Then eat it.<\/p>\n

The task was assigned by Forest \u201cJuney\u201d Shober to his high school science class when he taught at The Howard School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ask, \u2018Hey, do you think kids would like to make their own little snack and eat it? Of course, they\u2019re going to say, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 That seems kind of silly, right?\u201d said Shober.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can put it in the context of: Let\u2019s take good, positive experiences and make it part of this whole thing where the kids are learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shober developed the idea for edible pavement after the Research Experience for Teachers (RET). The six-week program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga helps local K-12 teachers find ways to engage their students beyond listening to a lecture and looking at words on a whiteboard.<\/p>\n

As part of the National Science Foundation-funded RET, for the past three summers faculty from the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science have worked with teachers in the Hamilton County School System and others on project-based learning that is both effective and fun for students.<\/p>\n

This summer, 15 teachers from schools in Hamilton and Marion counties attended the RET. A total of 29 teachers have participated in it since it began.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to have created the necessary partnerships to provide all the support we can to teachers and in turn see exemplary results by teachers,\u201d said Dr. Raga Ahmed, associate professor in the UTC Department of Electrical Engineering and co-director of the RET.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mbakisya Onyango, UC Foundation associate professor of civil engineering, co-directed the RET.<\/p>\n

UTC faculty who worked as mentors in the latest RET are:<\/p>\n