Broader Impact Activities at Rice

Rice is committed to helping to grow the pipeline needed to maintain the creative, innovative, and scientifically literate workforce needed for the future by engaging in a wide range of activities to enhance K-12 education; enrich undergraduate experiences, and enhance graduate education. Furthermore, Rice is committed to broadening the understanding of science and engineering by the public. Hence, Rice has a wide range of programs focused on ensuring that the world-class research and education on campus reaches the public and the community at large in a meaningful way. The National Science Foundation requires that research proposals have components focused on these kinds of broader impacts. Rice researchers may wish to leverage these on-ongoing programs as a way to strengthen their NSF and other proposals.

Office of Undergraduate Research

Educational and Outreach Initiative of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN)- The goal of CBEN's educational outreach and human resource programs is to cultivate a future workforce experienced with using science and engineering at the nanoscale to solve problems in biological and environmental engineering. CBEN's educational outreach activities are coordinated by Dr. John Hutchinson, Director for Education and Dr. Carolyn Nichol, Associate Director for Education.

Connexions - Connexions is an environment for collaboratively developing, freely sharing, and rapidly publishing scholarly content on the Web. Our Content Commons contains educational materials for everyone - from children to college students to professionals - organized in small modules that are easily connected into larger collections or courses. All content is free to use and reuse under the Creative Commons "attribution" license.

Teachers.Rice.Edu - The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies has several programs focused on the professional development of teachers and for enriching science and mathematics education for High School Students. Since 1994, the School's teacher professional development programs have trained over 20,000 teachers from 48 states and 27 countries.

Rice summer K-12 programs - Rice has a wide array of summer programs for K-12 programs that might be leveraged in NSF research grants.

W.M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training Undergraduate Research Training Program - Students from Houston and around the nation participate in challenging, hands-on research training projects in a lab setting under the guidance of a faculty member. Sample the world of interdisciplinary bioscience through the center's tours and seminars, which emphasize the collaborative nature of the six institutions involved in the Keck Center: Rice, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Houston, UT Health Science Center-Houston, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, and UT Medical Branch-Galveston. Past tours have included the University of Houston's Virtual Environment Teaching Lab and the Baylor College of Medicine Biomedical Computation and Visualization Lab. Both funded (stipend only) and non-funded positions are available for the program. Contact: Lisa Blinn at Lisa.S.Blinn@rice.edu

Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Summer Research Program - Rice, the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Texas State University, San Jacinto Community College, and the Houston Community College System comprise the Rice-Houston Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (Rice-Houston AGEP) Program. Situated in one of the nation's largest, most culturally diverse cities, the Rice-Houston AGEP unites many of the city's research and teaching universities and community colleges in the common mission of significantly increasing the number of underrepresented minority students earning PhDs and positioning them to become leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The program will cover students' travels costs and provide them with a housing supplement and a $3,500 stipend. Contact: Theresa Chatman at tlc@rice.edu or 713-348-5180

Leadership Rice Summer Mentorship Experience - Students of all majors and years who are interested in developing their leadership capacities may sign up for the fall Leadership Rice course, UNIV 309. Those who complete the class may apply to participate in an eight- to 10-week summer mentorship that includes individual coaching, substantive work, and group seminars. Fifty to 60 students will be matched with mentors in organizations representing a variety of fields, including the arts, administration, social entrepreneurship, health care, and public policy, in Houston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. and international locations. Mentorships offer a $3,000 stipend. Applications and detailed information can be found on the Leadership Rice website. Contact: Natalia Ksiezyk, assistant director, at leading@rice.edu or 713-348-4785

Rice University School Mathematics Project - RUSMP started in 1987 as a bridge between the Rice University math research community and Houston-area math teachers. Its programs are designed to enhance the mathematical knowledge of K-12 teachers and to promote more effective teaching and greater student involvement. RUSMP runs a variety of programs, including summer and academic-year courses for teachers and experimental summer schools for at-risk students. The interchange between RUSMP and Houston-area schools is yielding a body of research about how teachers teach and students learn mathematics. The project has several programs and courses.

Institute for Advanced Study /Park City Mathematics Institute - This project, initiated in 1994, is an effort to improve the teaching of mathematics in elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as to improve and create new connections between high schools and universities. There is also a Math Day at Rice, sponsored twice a year. Contact: Professor John Polking at polking@rice.edu

Rice Institute for Biosciences and Bioengineering Research Experience for Teachers program - This internship is a 9-week program involving participation in on-going research work in a science laboratory at Rice University and also assistance with IBB's High School Summer Academy. After this internship, the high school teacher is expected to be able to develop new science curricula that may be implemented in their high school courses and keep IBB informed of their progress towards this end.

Rice Institute for Biosciences Rice Summer Academy for High School Teachers - The Hamill Foundation and HHMI-funded Rice Summer Academy for High School Students currently consists of two well-established summer internship programs - The Science Academy of South Texas Summer Intern Program and The Milby Science Institute/YES College Preparatory School Summer Intern Programs. Both of these summer programs for high school seniors have been ongoing for over 10 years and are currently sponsored and administered by the Rice Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering. Click here to view the Summer Academy for High School Students brochures.

Rice Institute for Biosciences and Engineering IBB-Harmony Science Academy Collaboration - IBB is formalizing a collaboration with the Harmony Science Academy so that we can strengthen the connections to the community. This is a new collaboration that is separate from IBB's current IBB Summer Academy. IBB Faculty mentors will mentor Harmony Science Academy students over the year.

Museums Teaching Planet Earth - An expansion of the successful "Public Connection" program funded by NASA's Learning Technologies program, this joint program of Rice and the Houston Museum of Natural Science is an innovative concept in outreach recently selected to be a member of the ESIP (Earth Science Information Partnership) Federation, a program of NASA's Office of Earth Science. The program utilizes three independent mechanisms for educating the public about earth science: Earth Update, The Global Theater, and The Earth Forum.

The Public Connection - Initiated in 1994, the Public Connection has created the first on-line, up-to-date, earth and space digital museum accessible to the general public. Interactive displays of real-time earth and space science data, developed and tested at the Houston Museum of Natural Science are now available for museums, schools, and individuals around the country.

Rice University's Beyond Traditional Borders has several programs including teacher development programs in bioengineering and world health; and a program creating graduate and postdoctoral multi-disciplinary team teaching programs in global health technologies (see http://cohesion.rice.edu/collaborations/btb/programs.cfm?doc_id=9298#multi)

Rice's Center for Education has a wide array of programs that can be leveraged to meet the broader impact requirement of NSF grants. These include a wide array of teacher training programs, including the Rice Model Science Lab project and the School Science and Technology Program.

GIRLTECH - In response to a serious shortage of women in computer science and information technology, GirlTECH works to promote the participation of girls and women through K-12 student and teacher programs, university student admission and retention programs, and national outreach and awareness efforts.

Operation Smart - The mission of Operation Science, Math, and Relevant Technology (SMART) is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Girls Inc. launched Operation SMART in 1985 to sustain girls' skills and interest in science, math, and technology. Hands-on activities give girls the opportunity to explore, ask questions, and solve problems.

Rice Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning's program "preparing tomorrow's teachers to use technology" - A multi-year collaborative with the Houston Independent School District, Rice University, and University of St. Thomas - with University of Houston as evaluator, which will use technology to train teachers entering the profession through the Alternative Certification Program.

Rice Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning has several ongoing projects including:

• Web Adventures to Teach about Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism "The N-Squad"
  Using the highly successful Web adventures model, this project's focus is to increase middle-school students' knowledge about the biological effects of alcohol. This interactive multimedia adventure series takes students to a crime scene where an event is reconstructed using knowledge of human biology and problem-solving skills. This project is supported by a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institutes of Health award, R25AA014896.
• Society and Technology: Multimedia Case Studies
  This project prototypes a novel approach to understanding the impact of Information Technology on society through a case study approach. The format consists of multimedia modules in a Problem Based Learning setting. Funding is provided by a ERIT grant through Rice University's CITI.
• Medical Mysteries (MedMyst)
  Unraveling the historical perspective and scientific mysteries surrounding Infectious Diseases is the goal of this interactive web site designed for middle-school students. Based on the previous success of The Reconstructors® , this series of episodes has been designed with funding from the NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), R25RR15295, National Center for Research Resources.
• The Reconstructors Adventure® "Nothing to Rave About"
  The Reconstructors® is an interactive multimedia adventure series for middle-school students. The web site provides a futuristic world in which explorers scientifically unravel medicinal mysteries. This project was supported by a Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership Award (R25 DA15063) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institutes of Health.

Houston Urban Learning Initiatives in a Networked Community (HU-LINC) - HU-LINC is a major collaborative initiative, started in 1999, that includes all of Houston's colleges and universities working with Houston Independent School District. HU-LINC's goal is to improve mathematics, science, and technology instruction throughout all grade levels. Faculty and staff from Rice University play a major role in this reform effort, particularly as members of the College/University Coalition.

Rice Outreach Mentoring Program (ROMP) - Initiated in 1997, Rice Outreach Mentoring Program matches college students with middle school students from Project Chrysalis. The younger students travel to Rice every weekend to spend three hours with their mentor. Activities may include a tour of campus, museum visits, scavenger hunts, and other educational activities.

NanoKids™ - The NanoKids™ educational outreach program, headed by Dr. James M. Tour, Chao Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory at Rice University, is dedicated to increasing public knowledge of the nanoscale world and the emerging molecular research and technology that is rapidly expanding internationally. Based on actual anthropomorphic molecules synthesized in the laboratory, the NanoKids™ visual concept utilizes universally recognized forms exhibiting human characteristics to instruct, motivate, and entertain.