Some sixty university faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and science teachers from NCLT partner institutions attended the Spring Center-wide Meeting at Northwestern University May 25-26. The purpose of the meeting was to report on current activities, increase internal integration; expand external partnerships and foster understanding and practice of Center evaluation and assessment.

Meeting activities included a series of invited talks by Center members, panel discussions, a poster session, and breakout discussions on special interest topics such as evaluation and assessment and classroom integration of nanoconcepts. Discussion was lively, especially concerning important Center-wide challenges such as presenting non-intuitive nanoconcepts (ex: self-assembly), which often require prior understanding of basic science concepts. Members also discussed the potential role of the Center in helping to reshape existing learning standards and “high- stakes” assessments to reflect nano learning goals.

Significant contributions were made by NCLT graduate students, postdocs and high school teachers, who enriched discussions on curriculum development, professional development and outreach by sharing their experience in the Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Nashville school districts. They also took part in a dynamic poster session covering a broad spectrum of Center activities, from nano-based learning research to classroom integration and summer nanoscience camps.

Over the two-day period, the main challenge of the NCLT was reiterated: integrate the diverse communities represented in the Center - nanoscientists, nanoengineers, learning scientists, students, and educators – in order to build national capacity in Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education.

Meeting Presentations: