Experiences in Advancing Materials Engineering Education in Public High School via Teachers’ Training

Abstract- Valuable outreach to public high-school students, as prospective materials engineers, starts by training their science teachers. Accordingly a main goal of our Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program is to facilitate the preparation of public high-school teachers in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). For five weeks during the summer, teachers are trained in PREM-supported laboratories while they concurrently prepare educational modules based on those experiences. The content of these modules is dictated both by economic restrictions common in public schools and by educational regulations from the local school district. This article summarizes these teacher professional development activities and the accompanying logistics coordinated under the PREM umbrella