ShowMe Nature GK-12: It works because great minds don’t think alike Fellows integrate research and...
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Transcript of ShowMe Nature GK-12: It works because great minds don’t think alike Fellows integrate research and...
ShowMe Nature GK-12: It works because great minds don’t think alike
Fellows integrate research and education
Mechanisms of sustainability
Fellows bring their research into the classroom through interactive broadcasts in real time. This program is slated for statewide expansion through a proposed collaboration with university partners in St. Louis and Springfield.
Professional development of graduate fellows
Nicole Miller-Struttmann, Anna Waldron & Candace Galen
Examples: GK-12 Fellow, Jeffrey Dale on leading 5th grade students at Lee Elementary in writing their mini-grant proposal, Protecting the environment, one rain barrel at a time (Fig. 2A and B) states, “I have learned the importance of setting goals, timelines, and deadlines in the completion of team-driven tasks” and “I have increased my ability to ‘facilitate’ information without directly providing [it].”
Another GK-12 Fellow, Lianne Hibbert, reflects on leading 5th grade students at Fairview Elementary in the creation of their mini-grant, Fairview Forecasters, “This was a worthwhile effort for me as a communicator…working with children you have to really make a concerted effort for clarity, continuity, and simplicity. All of those things are needed in grant writing at any level.”
Figure 6. Graduate students during a Science Safari day delight fourth and fifth graders with live snakes, frogs, and katydids (6A). Students learn about amphibians including rare Missouri salamanders (6B). Scientists work with students to diagnose wetland health using bio-indicators (6C).
Figure 4. Stephanie Schuttler (4A), a Conservation Biology graduate student, engages students in her PhD research on the social structure of African forest elephants. Stephanie’s students measure “bolus” size of elephants to estimate age (4B) and use DNA to sex elephants (4C) .
Fellows develop communication, administrative and collaborative skills by engaging students in writing research proposals and implementing funded projects through our Mini-Grant program.
Informal Science EducationWe use safari days at MU to build relationships between non-GK-12 graduate students interested in science outreach and K-12 students (Fig. 6).
GK-12 pedagogical research
To measure the impact of Fellows’ GK-12 experiences on STEM in higher education more broadly, our team is also conducting research on how participation in GK-12 affects graduate student pedagogy at the college level. Fellows integrate current research tools into their teaching of undergraduate students more often than their non-fellow peers (Fig. 7).
Fellows engage students in their research through Science Safari Research Days at MU, curriculum integration, and Mini-Grant development.
Commitment from corporate and governmental partners to support student research through our mini-grant program will have an enduring legacy.(2A
)(2B)
(4B)
Figure 2. (A) Students listen as an expert from The City of Columbia’s Stormwater Management program advises them on rain barrel installation (diagrammed in B). (C) Chad King, a Fish and Wildlife graduate student, teaching students how the global positioning system works and how to use it.
Mini-grants
In our first cohort of Graduate Fellows, most perceive strong benefits of guiding the development and implementation of a research proposal in the classroom (Fig. 1). Fellows cited new research opportunities and enhanced administrative abilities as the primary professional rewards.Benefits Perceived by Fellows
administrativeresearchnot clear yet
Virtual research expeditions
GK-12 Fellow Research Description Educational IntegrationClayton Coffman
Impacts of plant chemical defense on insect behavior
The chemistry of smellPlant life history
Jeffery Dale Communication between nerve and muscle cells
Scientific method: Animal modelsDisease transmission
Logan Decker Functional disruption via gene silencing in fungi
Scientific method: DNA extractionDiversity of life and classification
Jeremy Gibson
Evolution of vibrational communication in tree hoppers
The physics of soundFood webs: Species interactions
Lianne Hibbert
Human dimensions of conservation in Saint Lucia
Experimental designSimple machines
Chad King Ecological implications of historical fire regimes
Ecosystems and energy flowNutrient cycles
Stephanie Schuttler
Social structure and migration of African forest elephants
Scientific method: Genetic analysisAdaptations
Sarah Zukoff The ecology of the western root worm: Implications for agriculture
Diversity of life: InsectsPlant and animal classification
Graduate fellows enhance learning of core science curricula by integrating their research with educational goals. Overlap between science content and graduate research is challenging in some realms (Fig. 3). Despite this, fellows address a broad range of scientific disciplines through activities that incorporate curriculum goals with their research (Table 1.)
Table 1. Specific topics in science that fellows addressed by engaging students in their research at Science Safari Days and in the classroom
Overal
l scien
ce sk
ills
Scien
tific inquiry
Scien
tific unders
tanding
Experi
mental
design
divseri
ty of li
fe
Ecosys
tems
adap
tation
Simple
machines
elemen
t cyc
les
mixtures
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1Integration of research into the curriculum
Prop
ortio
n of
fello
ws
Overall s
cience
skills
Scientific i
nquiry
Scientific u
nderstanding
Experim
ental desig
n
Diversi
ty of li
fe
Ecosys
tems
Adaptation
Simple m
achines
Nutrient c
ycles
Mixtures
(6A) (6B) (6C)
Figure 1. GK-12 Fellow perceptions of their professional development as a result of conducting a mini-grant with their elementary students.
(4A) (4C)
FELLOW PEER
12
34
5
Freq
uen
cy o
f te
ach
ing
w
ith
rese
arc
h t
ools
Figure 7. Frequency that GK-12 fellows and their non-fellow peers use research tools when teaching undergraduates.
Figure 3. Proportion of GK-12 Fellows’ graduate research that overlaps with national and state-level science curricula.
Figure 5. (A) Alex Lobzhanidze, GK-12 computer engineer, assists Nicole Miller-Struttmann, post-doctoral researcher, in broadcasting her research on insect ecology (B).
(5A) (5B)
(2C)