Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education

For more information about the GK-12 and Pi Programs, including application procedures, visit: http://www.sc.edu/cte/graduate/fellows.html.

Improving Teaching

The Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program provides fellowships and training to graduate students in engineering, technology, mathematics and the sciences in order to:

• Improve the communication and teaching skills of participating Fellows.
• Foster science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) content gain and professional development among participating teachers
• Enrich grades 6-8 students’ learning of STEM concepts and applications.

Through a 5-year $2M grant from the National Science Foundation awarded in 2005, we have expanded a successful GK-12 program that was originally focused on engineering problem solving to a cross-campus program with the broader theme of authentic inquiry in all NSF-supported STEM disciplines. GK-12 Fellows provide direct assistance to teachers in the classroom and provide professional development opportunities for teachers in the summer. As part of the process of institutionalizing GK-12 at USC, program management has transferred to the Center for Teaching Excellence. This includes the development of an additional Fellowship opportunity through the Partners in Inquiry (Pi) Program.

Listen to a radio spot (MP3 format, 2 MB)

Improving Research

Advisors and graduate students tell us that learning to teach inquiry skills to middle schoolers can improve the graduate student’s own ability to conduct research and present results. For example:

A Fellow: “I have different questions and more fundamental questions. The kids always ask why, what are you doing, what is this? So, I’m asking the same kinds of questions when I make decisions. I analyze things at a more fundamental level.”

An Advisor: “He’s a lot more mature. He seems to have an understanding of education’s importance – his own education as well as the education of others. That translates over to his work with me. When I ask him to do something, he understands that he needs a certain background, and he goes off and learns it, finds ways to deal with that so he can do a better job of educating himself and solving problems.”

For more information

For more information, contact the Center's director:

Dr. Jed S. Lyons
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208.

803.777.9552 | lyons@sc.edu