1. Greg Clark, Stacia Rodenbusch, Stanley J. Roux
Middle School Science Educational Outreach Programs: “Present your Ph.D. thesis to a 12-year-old”
and “Shadow a scientist”
Greg Clark, Stacia Rodenbusch, Stanley J. Roux
Molecular Biosciences, Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
“Present your PhD thesis to a 12-year-old” and “Shadow a Scientist” are novel science education outreach programs designed to promote interaction between the scientific research community at The University of Texas at Austin and middle school students in the surrounding area. Both of these programs are based on direct communication of actual research to middle school students. “Present your Ph.D. thesis to a 12-year-old” is a program in which graduate students present a simplified version of their Ph.D. thesis in middle school classrooms and community centers. Each presentation is about 20 minutes long and all presentations are carefully vetted to be engaging, fun, and easily understandable without the need for prior knowledge of the topic. This program gives emerging scientists the opportunity to communicate their discoveries with middle school students and encourage the students’ curiosity and enthusiasm for science. “Shadow a Scientist” is a summer program in which scientists host a pair of middle school students in their lab for two hours one afternoon a week. Middle school students are matched with scientists in an area of research that interests them. On a typical visit the students meet and work closely with a scientist in their lab. We have found that these programs have a three-fold benefit: the students’ scientific knowledge is increased, the scientist’s role is demystified, and the scientists improve their communication skills by explaining basic science research to a general audience. Here we present details about both programs and discuss the feasibility of exporting these programs to other universities.
ABSTRACT
SHADOW A SCIENTIST PROGRAM
PRESENT YOUR PH.D. THESIS TO A 12-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin participate in this novel program by presenting a simplified version of their Ph.D. thesis in middle school classrooms.
THE GOAL OF THESE OUTREACH PROGRAMS
Engaging graduate students and research scientists in K-12 science educational outreach is a direct way of providing an opportunity for scientists to improve science communication skills and increasing young students’ awareness of ongoing scientific research.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
This free summer program pairs a group of two middle school students with a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin for a two hour tour of the scientist’s lab and experiments in progress.
ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES
Figure 1. Survey responses of scientist participants. (A-E) “Present your Ph.D. thesis to a 12-year-old” program and (F-J) “Shadow a Scientist” program (Clark et al. 2016, PLOS Biology 14(2): e doi: /journal.pbio ).
Figure 2. Survey responses of student participants. (A-D) “Present Ph.D. thesis to a 12-year-old” program and (E-H) “Shadow a Scientist” program (Clark et al. 2016, PLOS Biology 14(2): e doi: /journal.pbio ).
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The main purpose for presenting these programs at this meeting is to encourage similar outreach efforts by scientists at other universities. These programs are fun and educational and provide an opportunity for scientists to improve their science communication skills while encouraging young students’ interest in science.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. Clark’s participation in these programs was supported by the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) and many of the scientists that participate in the Shadow a Scientist program are FRI Research Educators. Also thanks to the many other scientists, graduate students, AISD teachers and undergraduate students who participated in both of these programs.