On February 25th, Karlygash and Akerke’s research paper collaborating with Dr. Yildirim, director of STEM projects at RUSMP, and Emel Cevik, a Ph.D. candidate at Texas A&M focusing on STEM education, was presented in Conference on Academic Research in Education (CARE) in Las Vegas. Both, Akerke Andagul and Karlygash Ospan are enthusiastic math teachers of Harmony Public Schools (HPS) and active members of Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP). As the main presenter, Emel Cevik shared her experience at CARE in Las Vegas. Emel says “The audience was excited about our topic, STEM PBL from teachers’ perspective, and asked several questions after the presentation. I believe it is a good sign if the audience is engaged and has questions.”

Both teachers are very appreciative of the support of Dr. Yildirim, Ms. Cevik, and RUSMP faculty for their guidance and support. Akerke: “We are extremely lucky that Rice University has RUSMP that helps teachers to get involved in education-critical research. We are sincerely thankful to Dr. Yildirim and Ms. Cevik for their guidance and mentorship in this cooperative research work.” Karlygash says “We hope to continue this collaboration and tackle many other problems of STEM in the future”. In fact, Karlygash is planning to do a Ph.D. in Statistics/Applied Mathematics and working on her Ph.D. applications. In addition, Akerke is pursuing her MS in education and plans further to do her Ph.D. in STEM education. RUSMP played an influential role in cultivating research experience and shaping their plans for the future.