Teachers experiment in engineering

For five S.C. teachers, the roles have been reversed, and they're spending their summer break as students.  For the past six weeks, this group of high school science teachers has been conducting sophisticated engineering research at USCresearch with real-world applications. Their work is sponsored by a $50,000 National Science Foundation grant. Each teacher receives a $7,200 stipend for the summer.

The teachers aren't planning to become engineers. They're hoping to become better teachers who can excite students about careers in engineering and other scientific fields.  "All the research says we should teach science by letting students do hands-on science," said Al Gates, a biology teacher at Dutch Fork High School in Irmo.  "It's not enough to have students memorize a lot of facts."

Clad in old jeans, goggles and plastic gloves, they're investigating what factors affect the strength of the bond between epoxies and wood.  In other words, does a particular epoxy, which is a resin used mainly in coating and adhesives, really bond as well with wood as it's advertised to do?  The other questions: Does effectiveness lessen if the wood is wet? What if the grain of the wood is rough? What if the wood is coated with a primer?  The epoxies being tested are used on wood bridges. Such research could lead to better epoxies that could make wooden bridges stronger, more durable.

"The more high school teachers know about engineering, the better they can advise students with certain abilities about engineering," said Jed Lyons, a professor in USC's Department of Mechanical Engineering. Lyons wrote the grant and is overseeing the work.

Randy Brooks, an engineering teacher at Dreher High School in Columbia, says the research experience has reignited his sense of exploration. He hopes to take that enthusiasm into the classroom in the fall.  "Much of what we're doing isn't written in books," he said. "Students want it all written out. But there aren't always directions. You have to experiment, do the work. That's how things are discovered."

Using various equipment, the teachers measure how much force wooden boards that have been treated with different epoxies can handle. The teachers glue metal objects to epoxy-covered wood and see how difficult it is to pull the object off, and analyze the results.

"They're making contributions to the research that couldn't be made by just another group of mechanical engineering graduate students," Lyons said.

Teachers say they're learning a lot about the methodology that can be taught in any science course, not just engineering.  For instance, Gates has learned the importance of taking copious notes while doing experiments.  "It illustrates a lot of how scientists do things and how they think," he said. 

Alvin Pressley, a science teacher at Keenan High School in Columbia, is gathering ideas on how to identify students who have a knack for engineering.  Keenan High is developing a new curriculum focused on science and mathematics with an eye on training future engineers.  "I thought I could learn a lot to take back to the school," he said.

Laura Lanni of Dutch Fork High, the only female teacher in the group, is also exploring ways to get more girls interested in engineering. "There's not enough women in the field," she said. "It needs to change."

The teachers and Lyons will write two papers about their findings that they plan to publish in a scientific journal.  And the research won't end this summer. Lyons hopes to offer a similar program next summer where each teacher and one of their students work together on a research project.

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This page created July 19, 2002 by lyons@sc.edu.