Research Experiences in STEM Settings at Alma College

The Alma College Research Experiences in STEM Settings (RESS) Program seeks to support highly effective STEM teaching through improved preservice STEM teacher education. Our overarching goal is to provide authentic hands-on research experiences for 3 cohorts of 8 preservice secondary STEM teachers from which they will create learning opportunities for their future students. 

Our 10-week RESS Program is only open to preservice STEM teachers pursuing Noyce-eligible STEM majors. Our program leverages Alma’s endowed Dow eSTEM CORE Program, which supports Alma College STEM majors’ summer research and includes weekly seminars and cohort-building activities, culminating with a symposium at which participants share their research.

In addition to engaging RESS participants in hands- and minds-on research experiences, our RESS Program will further support RESS participants with Professional Development to learn about the Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards and support them in developing phenomenon-based lessons and units of instruction for their future middle and high school science classrooms. The Professional Development supports included in this RESS are thoughtfully designed and leverage diverse expertise across our Project Leadership team and Advisory Board.