Completed Projects - [ Research Experiences in Industry ]
Research Experiences in Industry (REI), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and FastForward Mississippi, expanded the NSF-funded Learn To Work program by placing science, mathematics and technology teachers from grades 7-12 in industrial settings. This was designed to help teachers in the following areas:
- To help them learn and understand the role that research and development plays in the workplace.
- To enhance their content knowledge and technology skills through real world experiences.
- To develop skills to better prepare their students to enter the workforce.
- To learn to make the connection between the industrial world and the classroom.
- To become more aware of career opportunities in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.
- To learn basic workplace competencies and values.
Similar to the Learn To Work program, teachers participating in REI attended month-long summer workshops hosted by Mississippi State University. The first week of these workshops was an orientation at the university where participants learned classroom activities and ways of integrating technology into their curriculum. At the beginning of the second week, the participants were divided into two groups with one group interning at Northrop Grumman and the other staying on campus for in-depth technology training and a visit to the Red Hills Mine in Ackerman, MS. For the third week, the groups switched sites. During the final week of the workshop, all participants visited area TVA facilities in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.
In the two-year period following their workshop experience, workshop participants provided sixty hours of in-service training and mentoring to teachers, administrators, and community members.
Various resources, including schedules, calendar, and lesson plans, are available on our sister website at http://technology.msstate.edu/REI/.
Partners
Mississippi State University partnered with Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding and Tennessee Valley Authority to provide on-site, workplace experiences for the participants. Two weeks of the program were spent at Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi and Tennessee Valley Authority in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The remaining two weeks of the program were spent at Mississippi State University and local industries such as the Red Hills Mine, in Ackerman, Mississippi and Mercedes in Vance, Alabama.
 Mississipi State University |
 Tennessee Valley Authority |
 Norththrop Grumman |
 Mercedes |
 Mississippi Lignite Mining Company |