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| navigate: home: magazine: winter 2000: article | |
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Workshops for teachers Bringing the latest scientific research into the classroom By Celena E. Kusch and Joseph Brigandi | ||||||||||||
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Teachers from across the Commonwealth converged on University Park campus last summer to learn more about the universe they live in and, more importantly, to pass that information on to their students. Twenty-two middle and high school teachers attended Penn State’s Workshops for Science Teachers series. The workshops are designed to enhance teachers’ understanding of sophisticated scientific information, which they in turn could use to captivate their classroom audiences. Penn State’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics has been offering two workshops, one covering Stars and Planets and the other covering Galaxies and Cosmology, for the past four years under the leadership of Dr. Eric Feigelson, professor of astronomy and astrophysics and assistant department head for the undergraduate astronomy program. Due to the success of past workshops, this year’s workshop series included two new weeklong sessions: Astrobiology and the New World of Advanced Materials. The expanded program represents a joint effort of the Eberly College of Science, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Continuing Education and the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, which is part of a national network of 52 university-based Space Grant consortia funded and managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). “NASA’s Space Grant consortia provide funding for research, education and public service projects across the country,” Dr. Lisa L. Brown, associate director of the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, said. “These workshops for science teachers are one way for us to contribute to a strong science, math and technology base and to share the exciting research being done at our universities.” The Workshops for Science Teachers program is part of a large-scale movement to promote science education and outreach. “Five years ago,” Feigelson explained, “the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics was discussing possible ways to disseminate our research more widely into nonscientific communities. Our faculty decided to take a somewhat unusual direction for physical scientists by providing astronomy-based in-service training to secondary school teachers. Shortly thereafter, President Graham Spanier made his call for increased outreach throughout the University. At the same time, NASA, the National Science Foundation and other federal science agencies all made a commitment to encourage and support educational outreach, and Gov. Tom Ridge set forth new recertification guidelines for teachers. This convergence of forces has really begun to refocus many faculty and encourage us to make room in our research for educational outreach. In our case, it’s working quite well.” This year, all Pennsylvania science teachers in grades seven through 12 were invited to the workshops. The workshops employ an innovative model for outreach in which University faculty deliver graduate-level courses through the University, while adapting principles of continuing professional education to help meet the participants’ needs. “One result of this strategy,” Feigelson noted, “has been increased access for the participants to the full range of University resources, including distinguished faculty, multimillion dollar labs and equipment, up-to-date textbooks and laboratories and cutting-edge research.” As other departments have adopted this model for science education outreach a number of Penn State faculty joined Feigelson in workshop development. Dr. Daniel Weedman, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has led the Galaxies and Cosmology workshop for the past two years. Dr. James Kasting, professor of geosciences meteorology, led the astrobiology sessions with the support of the Penn State Astrobiology Research Center. Dr. Renee Diehl, professor of physics, led the workshop in advanced materials. The majority of the teachers who attend the workshops typically come from rural Pennsylvania school districts that often lack available educational resources. Unlike their urban counterparts, they do not have planetariums or museums nearby. Penn State is committed to reaching those underserved communities. “We really emphasize those communities the most with our workshops and work to help teachers adapt activities to their classroom environments,” Feigelson said. He noted that science education today faces many challenges. Studies have measured a marked decrease in the level of interest as students enter secondary school. He pointed out that the problem is more prevalent for girls, as percentages fall from 30 percent interest in seventh grade down to 10 percent in 12th grade. Despite these challenges, the workshops share strategies for rekindling student interest. “Many young people today are interested in Star Wars and Star Trek, and we can discuss scientific principles by tapping into that interest,” Feigelson explained. In his workshops, he advocated using scientific errors in popular television to examine scientific principles, such as the impossibility of crossing the galaxy faster than the speed of light. “When you start with the fictional science they know, students become interested in learning what is possible with astronomy and astrophysics in the real world. We use science fiction to stimulate and maintain interest and ability in the physical sciences.” Within the two astronomy workshops, participants learned about the formation and evolution of stars and the origins and evolution of the universe itself. Participants conducted hands-on classroom experiments using inexpensive equipment they can share with their own students. They also explored Internet-based educational resources, including NASA Web sites that connect students to the latest astronomical research. Faculty focused special attention on recent results from the Hubble Space Telescope and other space-based observatories. In the astrobiology workshop, Kasting and other faculty presenters shared new research in the areas of chemistry, geology and molecular biology concentrated on the chemical and genetic evolution of life in an early planetary environment. “In understanding the origin of early life, we need to know about life on this planet before we can begin to understand any others,” Kasting said, adding, the interdisciplinary nature of the field adds value to the workshop content. “With the breadth of fields represented, there is something in it for everyone.” As part of the program, Kasting and Penn State colleagues discussed the use of spectroscopy in looking for life on other planets. Workshop activities included a tour of the lab of Dr. Hiroshi Ohmoto, professor of geoscience; instruction by Dr. Robert Minard, professor of chemistry, in building a take-home spectroscope using a diffraction grating and a pizza box; and a field trip to study swamp gases and the bacteria that live in their methane-rich environment. During the field trip, led by Dr. Michael Arthur, professor of geosciences, participants employed a device developed by Dr. Greg Ferry, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, to sample the gases. The advanced materials workshops introduced teachers to exciting new developments in the science of developing synthetic materials to suit specific environmental and functional needs. Using inexpensive materials, participants learned to build a liquid-crystal display—just one example of the advanced materials in use today. They also explored the future of advanced materials, including medical implants that can carry out tests or release appropriate doses of medicine, house windows that can control the flow of heat and light in response to weather and human activity, tennis rackets that can adjust automatically for overhead smashes and drop shots, and resilient dental braces that can return to their original shape if they are bent. “The purpose of the workshop is to help teachers close the gap between the world their students live in and the world they understand,” Diehl said. “These new materials also evoke much excitement and can stimulate learning in the classroom.” Program success can be measured in the new lessons teachers share with their students and the impact those lessons have in developing interest in science among the youth. “In increasing the presence of astronomy and astrophysics in the classroom, we don’t want every child to be an astronaut or an astronomer,” Feigelson said. “We want to use their current interest in astronomy through science fiction to help produce the next generation of practical scientists and technologists—the engineers, mathematicians, computer analysts and others who are the backbone for both space-related research and for society during the 21st century.” Feigelson and the other faculty workshop leaders seemed optimistic about achieving these goals. “In just four years, we have managed to institutionalize the workshops just as we institutionalize other graduate courses,” Feigelson said. “Continuing Education, the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium and the great leadership of the Eberly College of Science have worked together with lead faculty to deliver academic workshops that can reinvigorate the work of Pennsylvania educators. This has been an extremely successful outreach program, and we hope to continue to do it for a long time to come.” An outreach program of the Eberly College of Science, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium | |||||||||||
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