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As a culminating project, each BEST teacher has designed a curriculum module that translates aspects of their summer research experiences and knowledge gained from their PD workshops into meaningful, real-world STEM lesson for their students. Completed Curriculum Implementation Projects (CIPs) will be available on the BEST Project website by June 30, 2012. Acceptance materials for the 2012 BEST Project Cohort were sent to 20 secondary-level STEM teachers representing six different Maryland Public School Systems. The 2012 BEST Project Teachers will meet for an Orientation and Kickoff Meeting at the TU Center for STEM Excellence on Saturday, May 19, 2012. A list of the 2012 teachers and their summer research placements will soon be available on the BEST Project website.
On Saturday, December 10, 2011, the BEST Teachers met at the TU Center for STEM Excellence located at the Columbus Center in Baltimore's Inner Harbor for their third Learning Community Meeting. Teachers worked in collaborative groups to examine drafts of their Curriculum Implementation Projects and identify ways to increase the level of inquiry and problem solving in their CIP lessons. The main focus of the Learning Community meeting was strategies for integrating STEM instruction. Special thanks to Dr. Linda Cooper from the TU Department of Mathematics for her help facilitating various integrated STEM activities including comparing estimates of the Earth's polar circumference and developing the concept of map scale using aerial imagery from GoogleEarth. We are very excited to announce that we received 63 applications for the 2012-2013 BEST Project Cohort – an increase of 31% compared to last year's number of applications. Applicants will be notified if they have been accepted to advance to the second tier of the application process by January 30, 2012. On Saturday, November 12, 2011, the BEST Teachers met in Cook Library for their second Learning Community Meeting. Special thanks to Audrey Cutler and La Tonya Dyer of the Center for Instructional Advancement and Technology for coordinating and facilitating our workshop. BEST Teachers learned about several Web 2.0 instructional technologies including WordPress, Screencast-o-matic, Glogster, and Voicethread. Teachers were able to set up accounts for each of these tools and explore how they can be used to enhance STEM instruction.
Susan and Regie are to be commended for their leadership in promoting the BEST Project. Special thanks to Priya DasSarma for her role in arranging this extraordinary opportunity.
We are currently recruiting BEST Project applicants and BEST Project Research mentors for the 2012-2013 Cohort. Research mentors receive a $2,500 stipend for their work with the teacher-intern during the summer as well as $1,000 to defray the cost of supplies directly related to the teacher's research project. For information on the duties of a BEST Project mentor as well as an application, please visit our website at 
On Saturday, September 17, 2011, the first annual BEST Project Research Symposium was held in Smith Hall on the campus of Towson University. The 23 BEST Teachers presented summaries of their summer research projects as well as ideas for translating research content, skills, and career awareness into real-world inquiry-based instruction for their students. Approximately 70 invited guests including research mentors, school system STEM supervisors, school administrators, and family members were able to join us for the Symposium. BEST Teachers' research project summaries, including their personal and professional responses to the internship experience, are available through our teacher-intern web page at
On Wednesday, July 20, 2011, the BEST Project teachers met at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for their mid-summer meeting and workshop. Morning activities included sharing research internship progress and reviewing Outreach Activity guidelines. BEST Teachers will use their summer experiences as the foundation for the development of their Curriculum Implementation Plan, a module of lessons that translates content, skills, and career-awareness from their summer projects into engaging, real-world activities for their students. Dr. Rommel Miranda, Assistant Professor in the TU Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences Department and BEST Project Evaluator, gave a presentation on the salient features of scientific inquiry and the inquiry continuum. BEST Teachers analyzed lab activities in small groups, discussing strategies for how to increase the level of inquiry in order to foster more student engagement and the improvement in science process skills. Before lunch, Dr. Robert Gabrys, Director of Science Education at Goddard, congratulated the BEST Teachers on their acceptance to the program and extended an invitation for "teacher-tailored" collaboration with the Education and Public Outreach Division during the 2011-2012 school year. Information about Goddard's educational offerings can be found at http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/. After lunch, the BEST Teachers attended a Science on a Sphere Presentation and toured the Earth Space Missions Operations Center and Testing and Integration Facilities. Teachers learned about the constellations of satellites that are gathering data about climate change and the tests being conducted on components of the James Webb Space Telescope, projected to launch in 2018. For more information about the ESMO and the JWST, visit http://eos.gsfc.nasa.gov/esmo/ and http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/. On September 17th, BEST Teachers will present reflections on their summer research experiences at the BEST Project Fall Research Symposium, held in Smith Hall. Project mentors, school administrators, and family members are invited to share in this celebration of learning-by-doing and the plans the BEST Teachers have for improving STEM educational opportunities for their students.
On Saturday, May 14, 2011, the BEST Project Teachers met at the TU Center for STEM Excellence for their Orientation & Kickoff Meeting. After some "icebreaker" activities, Dr. Don Thomas, Director of TU's Hackerman Academy of Mathematics and Science, shared his experiences as an astronaut in a brief talk titled, "From Achieving Your Dream to Inspiring Others." Dr. Thomas will provide classroom outreach to the BEST Project teachers and their students during the 2011-2012 school year. After reviewing requirements for their 6 to 8-week authentic summer research experience, teachers were grouped by academic discipline. Teachers shared their expectations and concerns about being immersed in "real-world research" and explored the design, purpose, and importance of research journal articles. Groups discussed the common and uncommon ground between educators and researchers and how differences in vernacular and work practices might impact their summer experiences and future collaborations with their research mentors. Through engagement in an authentic research experience and explicit instruction during the 2011-2012 school year, the BEST Project aims to increase the level of inquiry and problem-solving in the classrooms of its teachers. A Place mat activity elicited the teachers' prior knowledge of "inquiry" and why problem-solving experiences are important for students. A hands-on-minds-on Wind Powered Vehicle challenge modeled inquiry-based instruction for the BEST teachers and asked them to reflect on how this type of activity has application to their classroom.
On July 20, BEST Teachers will meet at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to share summer research experiences to date and explore in more detail strategies for increasing the level of inquiry and problem-solving for their classroom instruction. 
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Last Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2012 | |
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On March 14, 2012, the BEST Project Cohort held its final Learning Community meeting for the 2011–2012 academic year. In honor of "pi Day", the teachers engaged in a guided-inquiry lesson that challenged them to find the relationship between a circle's circumference and its diameter using a limited supply of materials (lid from different-sized jars, string, a metric ruler, and graph paper).
On Saturday, October 15, 2011, we held our first Learning Community Meeting. Special thanks are extended to Dr. Ron Hermann and Dr. Rommel Miranda for their presentation on "Implementing Open Inquiry in the Science Classroom." Teachers worked in small groups to share their Curriculum Implementation Plan ideas and ended the day with pumpkin-themed inquiry-based learning activities.
