Multi-university precollege outreach from a renewable energy focused engineering research center

Abstract

The precollege program in the NSF-supported Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center is in its third year with over 100 participants in the first two years at three university campuses. The precollege programs consist of (1) a Research Experience for Teachers, (2) a Young Scholars commuter program for high school students, and (3) summer science camps for middle school students. An Each One Mentor One approach is implemented which links mentorship between faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, teachers, and high school and middle school students. Program assessment results show that teachers now have an increased interest in research on how math and science can be applied, and the teachers feel more confident in talking to their students about future careers in the field of engineering. The precollege program has motivated both the high school and middle school students to study harder, and while high school students are more confident they will enroll in an engineering degree program, they are not as confident that they will complete an engineering degree.