Description of the Program

TIGERS is a joint project of WVU’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources (CEMR), Eberly College of Arts & Sciences (ECAS), and College of Human Resources & Education (CHRE) at West Virginia University funded by the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 Program. Teams of graduate students from CEMR and ECAS, mentored by faculty members, work cooperatively with middle school mathematics and science teachers to co-plan and co-teach students at participating schools, making available cutting-edge research as a part of the everyday content delivery. At the same time, the participating fellows have the opportunity to improve their teaching skills and gain a greater appreciation of the learning process. Middle school students have the opportunity to participate in the research process on an on going basis. The graduate students are required to spend 20 hours each week working on various aspects of the TIGERS project. This can include in class time at the middle school, project module and lesson plan development time with teachers, and integration of the graduate students research with the learning modules.

Outcomes of the Program

Each year for the last 3 years 14-15 graduate students on average have participated. Of this number roughly ½ come from engineering and computer science disciplines and the other ½ come from the earth, life, mathematical, or physical sciences disciplines. Some of the students have been in the program for the full three years while others have been in for only one year. Each year roughly ½ of the students are new to the program. Participating students range from first semester graduate students to students in their last semester of graduate studies. External evaluations of the program show that the graduate students have gained tremendous experience in the communication of technical content to nontechnical audiences. Because the students are paired into interdisciplinary teams, they have developed a better sense of the interplay that is possible between disciplines moving from a multidisciplinary view of the thematic project areas to a truly interdisciplinary view. Some of the students have discovered through the project that their real interest lies in science education and have moved on after MS degrees in the technical disciplines to pursue doctoral degrees in science education. One graduate of the program has been tapped by her engineering firm to serve as their liason with nontechnical audiences and customers because of her demonstrated strengths in communicating technical information in a mode that is readily understood by the non specialist. The project has spurred greater collaboration between the technical units, ECAS and CEMR, and the education college, HR&E. More joint proposals focused on programs such as Centers for Teaching and Learning and Math Science Partnerships are the result. Perhaps the greatest impact has been in the rural schools where the fellows have gone. From the parents up through the school boards there is great enthusiasm for the program. It has been a wonderful way to make graduate education in STEM relevant to the citizens of WV we have served.

Implementation of the Program

The greatest challenge lies in having research faculty appreciate the value of learning experiences for their graduate students outside of their own research programs. We sought the best graduate students for this program and worked hard to find faculty willing to allow their best research students to take time away from the funded research projects to work on this “education thing”. The other key is finding resources that can sustain the program – graduate student stipends dedicated for this kind of project. We have been working closely with the University development office to find suitable entities interested in providing sustaining funding. Most of these groups want to initiate a project and then have the University take over funding for the long term – this is at odds with the current budget realities facing us and most other public institutions. The success relies heavily on individuals on the leadership team (representing each college) and dedicated faculty who are truly interested in the development of the graduate student as well rounded individuals (as opposed to research clones). The leadership team generally met every month, sometimes more often, to work out glitches that came up in the operation of the program. The faculty mentors met weekly with the students to insure that they were on the right track with the projects they were working on in collaboration with the middle school teachers.