Effects Of Participating In A Gk 12 Program On The Graduate Students’ Programs Of Study

The NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education program at the University of South Carolina supports engineering and computer science graduate students to serve as content resources in local schools. This paper analyzes how participation in the GK-12 program affected the Fellows’ university research and program of study. Qualitative and quantitative assessment data were collected from the Fellows and from the Fellow’s advisors, evaluated and used to identify intended as well as unintended effects. The time commitment for many of the Fellows often exceeded what was expected or required. However, the majority of Fellows and advisors did not report that participating delayed their graduation. In many cases, participation enhanced their ability to conduct research and present the results. The results indicate that the benefits to the Fellows of participating in the program outweighed any negative consequences.