"Providing Teachers With a Real World Context to Teach Science"

The Teacher Research Academy (TRA) offers middle school, high school and community college faculty unique professional development experiences at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). TRA teachers participate in a continuum of standards-based instruction, taking them from novice to mastery in exciting scientific disciplines.

Teacher Outcomes

Teachers who complete the TRA:

• Increase their understanding of science and technology.
• Become experienced using scientific equipment to perform standards aligned experiments.
• Are better able to provide students a context to understand how science is applied.
• Are better able to guide student research projects.

TRA Activities

TRA provides you with opportunities that most science teachers never experience.

• Meet scientists.
• Observe science being performed in the laboratory.
• See and learn how technical writing skills are used to communicate scientific information.
• Experience the nature of science through direct involvement.
• Learn to use science equipment, processes, practices found in research laboratories.
• Apply science to solve real problems.

Academic Credit

TRA participants can earn graduate credit or college extension credit.

• CSU East Bay College of Education offers 10-quarter units of graduate credit toward the completion of a Master of Science degree in Education.
• CSU Chico provides extension credit for each of the four TRA Levels.

Location

The TRA is offered at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Livermore, CA.

Schedule

The TRA program is offered each summer. Workshops are held in June, July. Internships start in June and end in August. View the class schedule for the coming summer.

TRA Faculty

The faculty providing instruction in the TRA program are master science educators from high schools, community colleges and universities. Each has extensive expertise in the science content they teach and experience providing teacher professional development. Scientists and engineers from LLNL contribute their expertise to keep the instruction on the "cutting edge."

Fee Schedule

The TRA program is offered free of charge by LLNL. A registration fee of $20.00 per workshop is assessed to provide hospitality to participants.

How to Get Started in TRA

• Review the TRA model to develop your understanding of the program.
• Choose the science content option best for you: 
  • Biotechnology (flyer Levels-I, II, III, IV) (flyer Level-V)
  • Energy and Environmental Technology (flyer)
  • Fusion and Astrophysics (flyer)
  • Biophotonics
• Register on-line. You must be a U.S. Citizen to attend TRA.