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Thomas W. Clapper Great Valley Senior High school Route 401 and Phoenixville Pike Malvern. PA 19355
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A School-Comm~nityScience Experience Great VaIIey9sChemistry-Industry Awareness Program
Today, more than ever, high school teachers are heing bombarded with requests to utilize the vast resources of the community to provide "real and meaningful" experiences and opportunities for early career decision-making for their students. Teachers are heing told that before students can generate a value system that will enable them to realize their fullest potential and subsequently contribute to a community, they must he provided with appropriate experiences. Experiences that will foster the development of positive self-concepts to the extent that students value themselves as an integral part of a community. Teachers are also told that just as everyday experiences do not occur in discrete, photon-like packets, they should not permit their students' learning potentials to be restricted by the walls of the school building. Pick up any secondary school's statement of philosophy, and you undoubtedly will read such comments as, "education is a multifaceted process," "transfer of cognitive skills to vocational and avocational settings," and "integration of learner and community." Within each specific course, outline-guides encourage teachers to provide community related "handson-exveriences" and "realistic ovvortunities." Unfortunatelv
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come to life in the community. I am convinced that many science teachers across the nation have the opportunity to start ~ ~ c o m m u n i t y . s c ~science oo~ programs but are waiting for a little nudge, perhaps in the form of "how-to-get-started" suggestions. Hopefully, this description of one such prograpl will provide that catalytic nudge. The program which I will describe is the "ChemistryIndustry Awareness Program," which has been rather successfully implemented a t Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania. This program is not unique to Great Valley; there are many other high schools throughout the United States successfully using a variation of this plan. Many of these other programs have been operating longer than ours. What follows is a brief description of our "Great Valley Chemistry-Industry Program." Students Participation in the program is available and limited to second-year chemistry students who would like to work in a chemistry-related industry or medical center and who desire to pursue a physical science or premedical curriculum in college. Objectives The objectives of the Chemistry-Industry Awareness Program are to provide opportunities for the student to: 1) He exposed to the real world of a professional scientist. 2)
Ohserve first hand what chemists do each day.
:3) Use equipment not readily available in the high
school chemistry lalmratory. 4) Utilize learned chemical principles in an industrial setting. 5 ) Gain knowledge in areas of chemistry nut covered in the regular high schwd curriculum. 6) Be introduced to career opportunities in chemistry. Structure The students are released from their individualized, selfpaced Chemistry I1 class two or three times a week to work in
their respective host industry or medical center. This chemistry class is scheduled for the last period of the school day which begins a t 1:30 p.m. in our system. Approximately 15-20 min of travel time is usually required. Whenever a student's schedule is such that a study hall precedes the chemistry class, that person may he excused as early as 1245, which then allows him to work a t his communityjoh from one to five o'clock.
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however, recorded on the student's transcripts and in letters D of recommendation.
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Types of Companies R During the first year, we worked with three students and three participating companies. Encouraged hy the response of parents, students, and industry, the program was expanded companies whose research interests vary from pharmaceutical drugs to catalytic converters, precious metals, and fire foam. H The students are placed in responsible positions in research, 0 analytical, and quality contnd laboratories where they use the 0 latest techniques and instrumentation available. Usually their L efforts are sub-tasks of larger projects. introduction to ],,dustrv Unlike programs which require the students to locate a receptive host company by themselves, Great Valley students are not "dumped" into the local community. After securing permission from appropriate company officials, the instructor visits with the R & D Director and the cooperating chemist. Together, they design an intern program that is appropriate to meet the interests and abilities of a particular student. Next, each student is provided with a hrief S.V O.~ D Sof~ the ~ company, names of future co-workers, and an introduction to tne kinds of work the student will he performing. The instructor then accompanies the student to the cooperating institution and introduces himlher to the research director and the cooperating chemist. After a tour of the various lahoratories, the research director, cooperating chemist, instructor. and student review the different tvnes of orocesses associated with the student's internship. ~ " t ' i msc'hedule e is completed so that the student can engage in this activity as well as continue to participate in the school's extracurricular activities. Tennis, fuothall, and haskethall players, gymnasts and student leaders have participated successfully in the program. Some students are also involved in separate, parttime jobs on days that they do not work a t their host institution. The student is responsible for day-to-day transvortation once participation in the program cokmencks. Liability Liahility is a genuine concern for both the comvanv and the
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to carry satisfactory personal accidentlhospital insurance. Happily, there have been no injuries. Safety and proper safety procedures are stressed by the school instructor and lahoratory personnel. Evaluation
T o evaluate the effectiveness of the Chemistry-Industry Awareness Program, a trichotomous process of placement, interim, and final evaluations are used. The placement evaluation consists of self-reports by the student, anecdotal records, and observation techniques in which the course instructor. in concert with t h e student and industrial reoresentative, assesses prerequisite skills and student interest. Midwav in the students' experiences an informal evaluation takes $ace. An attempt is made to obtain feedback toreinforce each student's learning and to make any necessary adjustments in each student's program. At tl& point in the evaluation process the cooperating chemist fills out a "student performance checklist and ratingform" and confers with the instructor. S The more formal, final evaluative procedures consist of E several steps. The research director and cooperating chemist each complete the checklist. ratina form. and essav form
N verbal input. The student and instruct& then discuss the D student's performance and the effectiveness of the program. Each student participating in this program shares his expeA rience with his classmates. This is achieved through 20-25 min R oral and visual presentations. y The results of the program evaluation have been very gratifying. The students found the community experience to be a valuable one. Some typical comments were e J
"It showed me what it's really like to be a professional chemist." "I found the experience profitable in helping to make careerdecisions. H It gave me a lot of insight into what I'd he doing i n chemistry." 0 "I was able tu see first-handthe conditions, functions,attitudes, etc. of the profession 1 would like to be employed in." "It was extremely educational and interesting, (a) very rare and L valuable experience."
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"(My cooperating chemist) was very knowledgeable and showed much interest in teaching me new techniques." Another student, for whom the program helped clarify vocational goals in a non-chemistry direction, wrote, "It helped me to decide that I'd rather major in biology instead of chemistry." This kind of a decision is consistent with the program objectives and is equally as valid as a decision to pursue a chemistry-related vocation. A preliminary follow-up studv has nrovided us with a sample of st"dents;place&ents in universities and their respective maiors. Of the fifteen particioants. information has been ohtained for fourteen. Seven are enrdlled as chemistry majors a t Colgate University, Drexel Institute of Technology, Duke University, Penn State University, University of Delaware, Valparaiso University, and Villanova University. Four students have chosen to major in biology, three a t the University of Delaware and one a t Smith College, and three of the Chemistrv-Industrv Awareness Proeram students decided to ch&e a premedical curricu1u;h a t Franklin and Marshall Colleae. the Universitv of Marvland. and the University of ~ennsG1;ania. Suggested Improvement
The program is not, however, without its shortcomings. Almost without exception, the participating companies suggested two areas for improvement:. one.. that the minimum of Fifty hours he increased, and secondly, that students' schedules bearranged so they may he in attendance for a full day in order that chemical processes can then he initiated and brought to fruition by the same student. It is hoped that the program can he improved by the adoption of these suggestions, as well as exploring the possibility of the students having exoerience with more than one comoanv. . " The executives of the cooperating institutions share the students' enthusiasm for the program. Their attitudes toward the oroeram can best he sumhedup by the following comment: "we eLjoyed having Sue working with us and feel the Chemistry-Industry Awareness Program is of value. We will do our part to give other students the same opportunity in the future."
