A four-year project on the subject of Hybrid Electric Vehicles and funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching Fellowship Program in K-12 Education has facilitated an educational exchange between graduate students in physics, materials science and mechanical engineering, and middle school and high school teachers and students. The nature of the exchange is summarized by the “M3: motivation, mentoring, manipulatives” motto of the project. On one hand, the graduate students have been motivated to transmit their scientific knowledge that has been acquired through research, to the science teachers, while learning communication skills from the teachers. On the other hand, the teachers have been motivated to improve and update their science curriculum. This mutual mentoring interaction has been extended by the development of educational tools created by the graduate students, such as lesson plans that include in-class demonstrations, new presentations, “hands-on” activities (the so called “manipulatives”), online tools (a web-based Science-related “Question of the Week”), and teacher workshops (specific resources are given to the teachers, based on the actual research activities of the graduate students). The teachers contribute by providing continuous feedback to the graduate students. By using the subject of Hybrid Electric Vehicles as practical motivation, K-12 students have been introduced to fundamental concepts in mechanics, thermodynamics and chemistry.

Through this project, the teachers’ curricula have been updated and supplemented by a set of educational tools that are ready to use in the classroom. The graduate students obtained a broader educational experience, facilitating their understanding of the educational process and enhancing their potential as future educators. Finally, the K-12 students were able learn physical science from a new, informal, and enthusiastic team of teachers with the aims of improving their performance and motivating them to pursue further education and careers in science or engineering.