The Inland Northwest Community Access Network (TINCAN), the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (PSCTLT), and Reel Grrls (a community media center) are partnering to involve 6th and 7th grade middle school girls in science-focused after-school club activities in 10 schools in Seattle and Spokane, Washington. The Science Journalism Pathways to STEM Careers project is engaging girls in science journalism through information and communication technologies (ICT) to investigate and publish information about local science issues of interest to their communities. The ICT focus is video, multimedia, and the Internet. Girls are also conducting hands-on activities and interviewing STEM professionals to learn issue-related science content. The goals of the project are to (1) increase girls' ICT fluency, (2) increase girls' science literacy, (3) increase girls' interest in STEM careers, and (4) increase STEM content in non-science courses taught by social studies teachers who manage the after-school clubs.
The Science Journalism Pathways (SJP) project was designed to introduce middle school girls to science concepts through the rubric of journalistic reporting on STEM topics. By investigating a science topic that impacted their own community, and carrying out fieldwork, interviews with experts, and hands-one science activities, middle school girls gained an appreciation of the ubiquity of science in their daily lives. In addition, girls in the after school clubs learned professional video techniques in order to document their research and make it available to the public. Over the course of five years, 13 middle schools and 431 girls participated in the project. The clubs met weekly for approximately two hours a week for an average of 23 weeks each year. Girls in the clubs selected science topics pertinent to their communities and reflective of group interests. Once each club selected a story, they utilized a template to take the story apart. They identified the central conflict of the story, who cares about the issue, and what sources the media used to support their story. They examined what assumptions were being made, and whether they are social or political, or scientific. The girls looked for media bias, including whether the story put forth a particular point of view and if there are other possible points of view. They focused on the science behind the story – what science issues were raised by the story and what scientific statements had been made to support the arguments in the story. Having analyzed the story, the club members developed a plan of research to examine the science behind the story, and to explore all sides of the issues. They conducted interviews with scientists working on the problem, such as hydrologists, medical professionals, and others. They also conducted interviews with community experts, including political figures, law enforcement personnel, and representatives of advocacy organizations. Typically, they continued to follow the issue in the press. While they were conducting their research and investigative reporting, the girls were simultaneously learning video production skills. They learned camera basics, cinematography, interviewing, and editing. Thus, as the girls went about their research, they were filming the process. Intellectual merit: Because students learn best when engaged in authentic tasks, the participating students came to understand that science is not a separate subject to be endured in the classroom, but an integral part of the social context of their community. The focus on place-based, community science within the science journalism framework allowed learners to bring their prior knowledge and experience to bear on science learning. Learners took what they know about their own world and manipulated that knowledge in developing a film that reflects both prior understandings of science as well as newly acquired understanding of the impact and ubiquity of science in their community. The project provided the opportunity to examine how perceptions of science, individual efficacy in problem solving, and identities as citizen scientists form as they students developed their films. Broader Impacts: The number of girls pursuing STEM careers continues to lag, with interest typically dropping off in middle school. Research on engaging middle school girls in scientific inquiry indicates that after-school programs often enhance their interest in science, and seems to prevent the middle school decline. But many after school programs are designed for students who are already interested in science. The SJP project was designed to reach girls who were not necessarily interested in science, by engaging them in scientific explorations through their interests in writing and film. To further support the "science for non-science people", the club leaders in the after school programs were not science teachers, but middle school language arts and social studies teachers. As such, the project provides a model of developing STEM engagement by integrating it with other interests. Educational Materials: Materials developed under this project include an after-school curriculum for teaching science journalism, teaching materials for video production, as well as 61 videos produced by students in the project.
