EDUC 994: Advanced Internship in Education

Erin E. Peters

Summer 2006

 

Learning Objectives

 

  • To understand the communication channels for funding in science education at the National Science Foundation
  • To understand characteristics of well-written grant proposals
  • To find opportunities to connect research and practice in science teaching

 

During the summer of 2006 I will be a doctoral intern at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia in the Centers for Learning and Teaching with John “Spud” Bradley, Michael Haney and Janice Earle. I met with Dr. Bradley, Dr. Haney, and Dr. Earle in December 2005 to investigate whether my needs matched with the Centers for Learning and Teaching needs. At this time, I explained my focus in my doctoral program, acquiring the knowledge and skills to become a researcher and a teacher educator. Dr. Bradley, Dr. Haney, and Dr. Earle agreed that I should attend a Principal Investigator meeting on February 2nd and 3rd, 2006 and in addition, work in the offices over the summer. The team at the National Science Foundation felt that attending the Principal Investigator meeting would provide a foundation for my learning this summer.

            In 15 years of experience as a classroom teacher, I have witnessed a gap between practitioners and researchers in science education. Many of the district-wide changes in curriculum that have occurred in my career have not been directly based on research. Changes were based on other factors such as personal preference, parental request or convenience. Now that I am in a doctoral program, I have a different perspective on the need for research in teaching. I can see how research can be extremely valuable in helping with curricular and pedagogical decisions, but I also understand the barriers that practitioners face in drawing from research. The language in which research is written is inaccessible to the average teacher. Since I have had exposure in the nuances of educational research and have fifteen years of experience in the classroom, I feel that I am in an advantageous position to become a bridge between the two.

            The National Science Foundation is one of the United States’ top organizations in guiding science education. The outcomes of the projects that the National Science funds ultimately become the body of knowledge that guide science education and the discipline of science. The National Science Foundation awards grants to scientists and researchers who then report back with their new knowledge. The National Science Foundation then compiles the new knowledge through conferences and publications so that educators and the public can benefit. The Centers for Learning and Teaching focus on science education research and hold various meetings with the research groups and conferences for the public throughout the year.

On-Site Working Schedule

            February 2-3, 2006 - Principal Investigator meeting at NSF (16 hours)

            July 5-August 16, 2006 - Five days a week for 4 ˝ weeks for 4 hours a day (84 hours)

Activities to be Performed

            In my work at the National Science Foundation, I plan to seek out opportunities where research and practice can meet. In addition to attending a Principal Investigators meeting in February, I will be working at the Centers for Learning and Teaching in Arlington from July 5 to August 16, 2006 in order to gain the require on-site experience. As a researcher, I will view my experiences at the National Science Foundation with an eye toward how practitioners can inform research. I will explore and try to create opportunities for practitioners to join researchers in order to conduct projects that will have practical outcomes. Practitioners have the knowledge about their needs in the classroom, which may help researchers direct their questioning. The public’s best interest lies where researchers can answer questions about practitioners needs. Being part of the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Learning and Teaching will provide an opportunity for me to discover how this community of practice operates.

            In my role as intern I will analyze how practitioners can be of more help to researcher. Conversely, I plan to analyze communication channels so that results of research can become more useful to practitioners. Even though the National Science Foundation provides a great deal of information that would be helpful to science teachers, in my role as a practitioner I have noticed that few classroom science teachers look to the National Science Foundation for information about science education. In my work this summer, I plan to seek out opportunities where the Centers for Learning and Teaching can be accessible to classroom teachers. I will use my perspective regarding the constraints classroom teachers face in acquiring practical knowledge to form strategies that will reduce the barriers between the dissemination of information by the National Science Foundation and the acquisition of information by teachers.

On-Site Supervisor Role

Dr. Bradley will be my primary supervisor and will coordinate which the National Science Foundation projects I will work with. Dr. Earle will work with me on the peer review process and will give me an opportunity to be involved in research the National Science Foundation has been conducting on this process. Dr. Bradley and Dr. Haney will be directing my work with grants and with communication channels between practitioners and researchers. At the conclusion of my internship, Dr. Bradley will write a letter verifying that I attended 100 hours as an intern and briefly describing what I accomplished.

 

 Products to be Developed

  • Journal – I will reflect on my activities daily so that I have information to analyze at the end of the internship.
  • Mock Grant Proposal or Collection of Exemplary Proposals – I will generate a mock grant proposal so that I document useful characteristics of a well-written grant or collecting a small number of excellent proposals that will help me identify what specifically is effective about them and highlight the effective portions.
  • Final Analytical Paper – I will write a paper at the end of my internship that will describe, analyze and reflect on my experience at the National Science Foundation.

 

Evaluation Procedures

To facilitate evaluation of my internship, I will keep a daily journal of my activities, generate a mock grant proposal, and write a report that includes an analytical section in which my experience and outcomes are linked to my previous experiences and learning and an evaluative section in which I will appraise the internship as a learning experience in the context of my doctoral program which will be evaluated by Dr. Donna R. Sterling. The letter indicating my completion of the internship will also be submitted to Dr. Sterling and I will meet with her one time after my internship to discuss my experience. In designing my doctoral program, I focused on increasing my knowledge of science education, improving my writing, teaching and research skills and understand what it takes to be a successful research professor. My coursework and research work is helping me attain most of this knowledge, but I still lack a great deal of knowledge in grant writing. My summer internship at the National Science Foundation has the potential to help me get a grasp of how the community of scientists and science education researchers work together to build knowledge, allow me to create opportunities for practitioners and researchers to benefit from each others’ knowledge base, and aid in my understanding of effective grant writing so that I may conduct productive and fruitful projects in the future.