The Distance and Service-Learning Project at Virginia Tech is a partnership between the University's Physics Department and science programs at high schools throughout Southwest Virginia. The Project targets two related problems: the geographic and professional isolation of rural high schools and teachers that limits their access to the facilities, resources and research discoveries of major universities, and the academic isolation of advanced undergraduate and graduate science students who have little or no opportunity to communicate with populations outside of their highly specialized scientific field. The Project design addresses these problems by employing distance learning to stimulate high school students' interest in and appreciation of rapid developments in the fields of physics and astronomy; and service-learning to engage selected physics students in the delivery of this information through ongoing electronic and face-to-face interactions. The Project will be piloted with Floyd County High School. It is expected that the Distance and Service-Learning Project will increase the level of science literacy among the general population of students at Floyd County High School, lead to the creation of an Advanced Placement Physics course, improve the oral, written and electronic communication skills of physics majors at Virginia Tech, and introduce physics majors to new applications of their discipline, including careers in teaching. All phases of the Project Pilot will be carefully documented, leading to the production of a teaching guide for School-College Collaborations using Distance and Service- Learning techniques.
