Education Outreach

Education Outreach Mission

The UMD-MRSEC’s commitment to excellence in science and engineering is driven by their mission to 1) create bridges between professionally-trained scientists, and professionally-trained educators to improve inquiry-based science teaching, 2) raise the quality of K-12 science and engineering education programs, 3) enlarge the pool of students who become our future scientists, 4) advance participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in science, and 5) increase public interest in, and awareness of scientific concepts and new technologies.

A key motivation of the UMD-MRSEC program is to create an expanding impact by teaching undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-docs effective skills in education outreach at the pre-college level. The UMD-MRSEC uses a successful service-learning approach, in which MRSEC research personnel receive outreach training and contribute service hours to education programs. This structure allows the UMD-MRSEC to effectively meet NSF goals, unite researchers from different IRGs and seeds, and effectively provide the community with needed role models, mentors, and expertise in science and engineering.

For contact information, please see the directory

Upcoming events are listed on the MRSEC Calendar

The Institute for Academic Challenge

MRSEC graduate student Michelle Groce, along with her team, has founded The Institute for Academic Challenge, a non-profit dedicated to giving "students the valuable opportunity to study advanced topics that are outside the scope of a typical high school curriculum¹." Designed for motivated students, the Institute is providing three classes in fall 2011: Special Relativity, Computability, and The First Amendment. Classes meet for two hours each Sunday afternoon from September 25 to December 18, with November 27 off due to the Thanksgiving holiday. For more details or to register online, visit the Institute for Academic Challenge website.

¹"Our Vision," Institute for Academic Challenge.