The goal of our Rural Science Ed. program is to offer rural schools in Oregon the opportunity to provide advanced and innovative inquiry-based science education to their students through a partnership with the academic community at Oregon State University. In our program, trained NSF Fellows from Oregon State University, in collaboration with Teacher Mentors from participating rural schools, will develop inquiry-based science curricula that meet the needs of middle and high school children in Oregon. The curricula will include simple and innovative experiments that integrate advances in biotechnology and ecology to encourage critical thinking about the impacts of agriculture on the environment, and the implications of advanced scientific research on human lives.
Twelve NSF Fellows, 6 graduates and 6 undergraduates from Oregon State University, will be selected from the disciplines of Entomology, Botany & Plant Pathology, Horticulture, Crop & Soil Science and Science and Math Education. One graduate and one undergraduate will work as an NSF Fellow Team in each classroom. Each Fellow's program will consist of the following activities: on-campus instruction in science and rural education provided by the Department of Science & Math Education, provision of year long science education in participating schools, involvement in outreach activities of Oregon State University such as 4-H, Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences, and Museum Days, and year-end evaluation of the program.
Science teachers from participating schools will serve as Teacher Mentors for NSF Fellows to facilitate development of experiments that complement existing science curricula. Videos and web pages will be developed for experiments conducted for future use by science teachers in Oregon. The program will be evaluated using 'before' and 'after' quizzes in the classroom, and term and year-end evaluations by K 12 students, Teacher Mentors and NSF Fellows.
K-12 student will benefit by hands-on experience in scientific research using live material and exposure to current scientific ideas and advanced technology to make them more competitive and better prepared for later schooling. The partnership will better equip Teacher Mentors for providing advanced scientific inquiry based science instruction in the future. Besides obtaining a stipend for their programs, NSF Fellow will benefit by the hands-on teaching experience that they will gain in the classroom. The program will enable Oregon Styate University professionals to recruit high quality graduate students, provide teaching experience to complement research experience that students can acquire on campus, and form partnerships with Oregon schools for extending science education.
