I am so thankful for this experience for it is a great refresher on what research is all about. The biomedical engineering lab I am assigned to here at Boston University has scheduled talks every Thursday morning. There is such collaboration among the researchers and much learning is taking place during these talks. These talks validate what I am doing in the classroom in terms of providing my students time to communicate and process the information. In addition, they inspire me to further emphasize and/or inspire my students about STEM education(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Sometimes teachers struggle to make connections between the lesson and the students' interest. This summer's experience helps me realize that these connections are easier made when the environment nurtures students' interest and helps them sharpen the necessary STEM tools to bring these interests to fruition.
This summer's research experience is a great refresher of my background in research. Prior to academia,I spent a few years in the pharmaceutical industry as a research associate. Interestingly, I somewhat lost track of the time factor and the amount of failures associated with the investigative process. This experience reminds me to help my students understand the inquire process. As we move forward with more inquiry based labs and lessons, students and teachers alike, need to be retrained in not looking for the one and only correct answer, but understanding that it is a process. There is much to learn from a failed experiment. Students need to learn to look at their failures as a learning experience. Oftentimes, students fear of failing impedes their ability to complete a task. If they are properly retools as to how to address their failure, I believe they will overcome their fear of failing and in turn they will be more willing to investigate.
