Nanoscience Education, Workforce Training, and K-12 Resources

The nanotech revolution waits for no man, woman...or child. To revitalize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) performance, the U.S. educational system requires a practical strategy to better educate students about nanoscale science and engineering research. This is particularly important in grades K-12, the effective gestation point for future ideas and information.

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The first book of its kind, Nanoscience Education, Workforce Training, and K-12 Resources promotes nano-awareness in both the public and private sectors, presenting an overview of the current obstacles that must be overcome within the complex U.S. educational system before any reform is possible. It's a race against time-and other countries-and the fear is that U.S. students could lag behind for decades, with ineffective teaching and learning methods handicapping their ability to compete globally.

Focusing on the application of new knowledge, this concise and highly readable book explores the transdisciplinary nature of nanoscience and its societal impact, also addressing workforce training and risk management. Illustrating the historical perspective of the complexity of K-12 education communities, it defines nanotechnology and evaluates pertinent global and national landscapes, presenting examples of successful change within them.

This book is composed of four sections:

Foundations-addresses the national educational matrix, exploring the scientific and social implications associated with the delay in adopting nanoscience education in public schools

Teaching Nanotechnology-discusses the critical process of teaching K-12 students the skills to understand and evaluate emerging technologies they will encounter

Nanoscience Resources and Programs-provides a wide overview of the resources offered by funded outreach programs from universities with nanoscience centers

Framework Applied-analyzes the structure of national government programs and skill level recommendations for nanoeducation from the National Nanotechnology Initiatives

This book offers plans of action and links to sustainable (largely free) development tools to help K-12 students acquire the skills to understand and evaluate emerging technologies. Promoting a holistic teaching approach that encompasses all aspects of science, the authors strive to help readers implement change so that decisions about resources and learning are no longer made "from the top down" by policymakers, but rather "from the bottom up" by teachers, parents, and students at the local level.

Akhlesh Lakhtakia, one of the contributors to this volume, was recently featured on CNN in a discussion on solar energy.

Autorentext

Judith Light Feather is president of The NanoTechnology Group, Inc., which provides resources for every aspect of nanoscience education, from curriculum to development tools for teachers. The company's News Division provides informal educational information and news for the public at www.NanoNEWS.TV presently serving on the Board of the NanoEthics Group, and multiple boards at Lifeboat Foundation.

Miguel F. Aznar serves as executive director of KnowledgeContext, director of education for Foresight Institute, and on the advisory boards of both the Nanoethics Group and the Acceleration Studies Foundation. He has presented at educational conferences, including Computer Using Educators (CUE), California Educational Research Association (CERA), and California League of Middle Schools (CLMS).

Inhalt

Section I: Foundations

Introduction to Nanoscience, Technology, and Social Implications

Inclusion of Nanoscience Education in Schools Is Important for Students

Detailed Roadmap for the Twenty-First Century

Understanding the Size in Nanoscience Is a Prerequisite for Teachers

Official Definition of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Size Matters in Scientific Disciplines

Social Implications

Education Is a Complex System: History, Matrix, Politics, Solutions

The Complexity of Our Education System Is Not Easily Penetrated

Brief History of Our Education Matrix

Understanding the Stages of Commercialization for Nanotechnology

Students Are Shifting the Paradigm

Students Are Making a Difference in the Classrooms and the Workplace

How Did We Miss Preparing Management for This Talented Generation?

How Do These Young Professionals Fit into Our Establishment Now?

So How Do These Generational Changes Fit into a Collaborative Advantage for Education?

Teaching Nanotechnology in Grades 1 through 6 in Singapore Was Initiated by an 11-Year-Old Girl

Systems Thinking for Solutions in Education

Introducing Nanoscience through Art

Science, Art, and Writing (SAW): Breaking Down the Barriers between Art and Science

Students Are Digital Natives Who Are Now Teaching the Teachers

Study Shows Four-Year-Old Preschool Students Think Like Scientists

More Nursery School Children Going Online

Teaching the Art of Game Design As a Career Path Combines Art and Computer Science

First Nanoscience Educational Game for K-12 Developed in the United Kingdom

Essential Features, Content, and Pedagogical Strategies in Game Development

Role Playing as Experiential Learning

Nobel Laureates Are Role Models in Teaching Nanoscience

Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988)

Richard Errett Smalley (1943-2005)

Leon M. Lederman, 1922

Section II: Teaching Nanotechnology

What is Nanotechnological Literacy?

How Do We Teach Nanotechnology's Identity?

What Is Nanotechnology?

Why Do We Use Nanotechnology?

Where Does Nanotechnology Come From?

How Does Nanotechnology Work?

How Do We Teach about Change in Nanotechnology?

How Does Nanotechnology Change?

How Does Nanotechnology Change Us?

How Do We Change Nanotechnology?

How Do We Teach Evaluation of Nanotechnology?

What Are Nanotechnology's Costs and Benefits?

How Do We Evaluate Nanotechnology?

Section III: Nanoscience Resources and Programs

K-12 Outreach Programs

Overviews:

Nanoscience Education Outreach Programs from U.S. Universities and Nano Centers

The Institute for Chemical Education, Madison, Wisconsin

Materials World Modules at Northwestern University-Middle and High School

NCLT-National Center for Learning and Teaching Nanoscale Science and Engineering-Northwestern University

Ohio State University-Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices (CANPBD)

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) State University at Albany

Columbia University-MRSEC Center for Nanostructured Materials, New York City (NYC)

University of Pennsylvania MSREC

Lehigh University-Outreach K-12

Arizona State University's Interactive NanoVisualization for Science and Engineering Education (IN-VSEE) Project Initiated in 1997

Georgia Institute of Technology-Nanotechnology Research Center

Purdue University-Nano-HUB

Harvard University-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology-MIT Open Courseware Projects

Cornell University-Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility (CNF)

California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS)

University of California, Santa Barbara, Materials Research Laboratory

Rice University-Houston, TX-K-12 Outreach Programs

University of Virginia, Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering UVA Virtual Lab K-12

Colorado State University-NSF Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Engineering Research Center (ERC)

University of Colorado-Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, Boulder

NASA Nanotechnology Education Outreach

University of Illinois-Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing (Nano-CEMMS)

Stanford University and IBM-Center for Probing the N…