This study of teacher researchers and mentor scientists at the Materials Research Laboratory at UCSB takes a socio-cultural perspective, assuming group norms in terms of language and practice associated with being a science teacher and a research scientist. The paper will report on data gathered from individual interviews with 6 science teachers and their mentor scientists, before and after the RET six week session in summer 2000. The interviews reveal some of the expectations and benefits expressed by teachers and scientists as well as some of the contrasts in the cultures of science teaching and research science. These factors need to be accommodated in RET project design.

Enabling students to become independent learners is a desirable goal for many educators. However, the task is not always easily addressed with the long lists of concrete, technical objectives that must usually be covered in classes. As a result, information often follows a oneway path from the instructor to the student, and students can develop a reliance on “packaged” knowledge and answers from only teachers and textbooks. In efforts to engage students in the learning process and to encourage the self-directed exploration of knowledge, “information competence” [1] has been incorporated into an upper-level materials course. Using current topics in materials science and engineering, students formulate questions to address specific issues and then locate pertinent information. A variety of resources, such as newspapers, web sites, and scholarly journals, are explored and evaluated. The instructor acts as a facilitator that assists with search strategies and evaluation of the information. Students develop the ability to process and reorganize the information into useful forms (e.g., reports, oral presentations). Providing the tools and instructions to function effectively in this Information Age will hopefully promote lifelong learning in today's students.

The Center for Materials for Information Technology has a mission of outreach to middle school students. For the past two years our Center has run a summer research experiences for teachers (RET) program. A primary emphasis of the Center's educational outreach activities involves collaboration with a very innovative 6th to 8th grade Integrated Science (IS) curriculum based in the Center for Communication and Educational Technology at the University of Alabama. Each summer three teachers from the IS program spent ten weeks working in the Center to develop demonstrations or activities for use in their classrooms. The emphasis was on demonstrations of magnetism and magnetic materials. In addition to these activities, the teachers have also assisted in the development of Computer Aided Instructional (CAI) software for use in their science classrooms. Both the activities and the software developed this summer will be made available to all of the teachers and students participating in the IS curriculum, approximately 1400 teachers and 170,000 students.

As part of their required curriculum, undergraduate students in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas take a course that studies the materials commonly used in the construction of buildings, bridges, highways, and the like. This course is titled CVEG 2113 - Structural Materials. A focal point for this course is the examination of concrete, its production, engineering properties, and uses in structures.

Since concrete can be delivered to a job site while still in a workable form, it is often necessary to perform a series of tests on the “fresh” material prior to its placement in a structure. Prior to the mid-1980's results from the field testing of concrete were often dubious. In an effort to improve the quality of testing, and thus the reliability and accuracy of the test data, organizations such as the American Concrete Institute (ACI) initiated programs to certify field testing technicians. With the students in CVEG 2113 already receiving instruction relative to testing, as well as having the opportunity to perform the applicable tests in the laboratory, it quickly became evident that ACI certification could, and should, be incorporated into the course syllabus. Being certified adds a tangible skill to a student's resume thus making the student more marketable for summer and long-term employment. The concrete industry benefits from an increased pool of highly qualified engineers. The Department of Civil Engineering benefits from an enhanced reputation from the perspective of both the students and industry.