Science Outreach Programs as a Powerful Tool for Science

The groups of high school students are heterogeneous, consisting of students (aged 16–18 years) with either a major science–mathematics education ...
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Science Outreach Programs as a Powerful Tool for Science Promotion: An Example from Flanders Wanda J. Guedens*,†,‡ and Monique Reynders‡ †

Institute for Materials Research, Chemistry Division, Biomolecule Design Group, Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - Building D, BE-3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium ‡ Faculty of Sciences, Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - Building D, BE-3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: Within the framework of the Lisbon Agreement, all European member states are encouraged to take measures to increase the number of science and technology students in higher education. To promote this educational model, a chemistry project was developed that focuses on high school students and especially on the involvement of their teachers by inviting both groups to attend science outreach programs at Hasselt University.

KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, Curriculum, Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary, Laboratory Instruction, Organic Chemistry, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives, Consumer Chemistry, Food Science, Nanotechnology

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teachers. Teacher workshops are available for each new topic outlined in Table 1. High school teachers usually attend two workshops a year. Participation in these workshops is required so that teachers can provide their students with the theoretical background knowledge and subsequently guide them during laboratory sessions at Hasselt University. The workshops are advertised via the Hasselt University Web site and a printed brochure of the “UHasselt@school” initiative.7 Because the population of the local science teachers is varied owing to the differences in their own educational background, it is important that the outreach program is clearly communicated to each participating high school teacher. To achieve the second goal, Hasselt University annually reserves two weeks in March or April for the local high school students to perform chemistry experiments in the educational laboratories at the university. The high school teachers, who are fully integrated in the outreach program by attending the teacher workshops, accompany the students and guide their class during these 150 min practice sessions. The registration is free for the high school teachers and students. The university staff members provide the participants with logistic support.

ithin the framework of the Lisbon Agreement, all European member states are encouraged to take measures to increase the number of students in higher education in science and technology.1 From the current literature, it appears that most programs focus on children up to 14 years old.2−5 One can, for example, think of the large number of science centers and museums, showing that science and technology can be amusing and entertaining. The outreach program of the chemistry department, part of a broader science outreach initiative at Hasselt University6 called “UHasselt@ school”,7 has the ability and opportunity to show an academic view on science promotion because special attention is paid to self-constructed knowledge and technology. There are two main objectives of the chemistry outreach program. The first objective is to expose high school teachers to customized teaching material (Table 1) and to provide hands-on experience with a variety of equipment generally unavailable at high schools. The second objective is to awaken scientific awareness, especially of chemistry, among high school students.8

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW To meet the first objective, 3-h teacher workshops are organized at Hasselt University for local high school science © 2012 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Published: January 20, 2012 602

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Table 1. Customized Teaching Material for High School Chemistry Teachers and Their Students Topics in Chemistry and Life

• Chemistry and nutrition • Chemistry and water • Know your alcohol level before you drive!!!a Topics in Chemistry and Industry

• • • • a

A polymer practice session Chemistry applications with the graphing calculator TI-84 Plusb Chemistry and technology with LabViewc Nanochemistry: Small particles, large applications

Ref 9. bRef 10. cRef 11.

In discussion groups at Hasselt University or in the chemistry lectures at high school, the students derive chemical laws and theories based on their collected data and observations. The high school teachers guide their students during the whole process of the outreach program from the theoretical introduction in the classroom to a practice session at Hasselt University and the evaluation of the collected data in discussion groups. In this way, the outreach program bridges the gap between the educational methods at high schools and those used at Hasselt University.17

The groups of high school students are heterogeneous, consisting of students (aged 16−18 years) with either a major science−mathematics education or a minor science− mathematics program. There are precollege students who hesitate to choose higher studies in chemistry with respect to their future career. By introducing the students to the magic world of materials science and life sciences, the ultimate goal is to recruit more students for studies in chemistry at university level. Unlike the demonstration programs described by Voegel et al.12,13 in this Journal, this outreach program provides high school students with interactive “do activities” at the university. The topics are centered around two central themes, chemistry and industry and chemistry and life (Table 1), and are enthusiastically received by the high school students.14 In the chemistry and industry theme, the topics vary from polymer to nanomaterials. In the chemistry and life theme, the emphasis lies on the welfare of present and future generations. The social issues “drunk driving” and “traffic safety” can be included in chemistry lectures because they fit in well with the high school organic chemistry curriculum. The hands-on experiments in the topic “Know your alcohol level before you drive!!!” are highlighted as a part of “Driving Under the Influence”, an interdisciplinary project of UHasselt@ school funded by the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish Government.15 The hands-on experiments are described in detail in the Supporting Information.

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CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES The authors believe that universities can make a valuable contribution to encourage high school students to develop an interest in chemistry. In addition, the universities also promote their program. Therefore, the outreach project will be extended in the future with new topics of high interest. Because of strong links with both academic research and industry, university science centers can offer high-quality outreach programs and demonstrate the actual relevance of chemistry in society.

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT

* Supporting Information S

Detailed description of the hands-on experiments in “Know your alcohol level before drive!!!”, a workshop and laboratory session about alcohol for high school teachers and their students; questionnaire for chemistry teachers and for high school students; cartoon of professor with board “Know your alcohol level before drive!, Chemistry Outreach Program @ Hasselt University”. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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OUTCOME OF THE OUTREACH PROGRAM The educational material developed for Driving Under the Influence project reached high schools throughout Flanders. The success of the project inspired other university science centers to introduce new initiatives, among which the project “Chemistry and Culture” launched in 2009.16 Learning through real-time experiments is key in the science promotion projects. Because hands-on experiments are expensive to perform in a high school classroom situation and high schools lack equipment, both teachers and students are eager to participate in the outreach program. Their enthusiasm is confirmed via the questionnaire (available in the Supporting Information): 90% of the high school students already are aware of the outreach program, the same percentage of participants appreciated the interactive teaching method, and 96% of them are very satisfied with the organized activities. These results indicate the effectiveness of the outreach program to promote science and technology. With hands-on group activities, high school students learn from each other and from their own mistakes.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected].

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish Government for financial support.

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REFERENCES

(1) Ertl, H. Comp. Educ. 2006, 42, 5−27. (2) Krieble, K.; Salter, C. Phys. Teacher 2008, 46, 296−299. (3) University of Colorado at Boulder Home Page. http://www. colorado.edu/news/releases/2006/8.html (accessed Jan 2012).

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(4) University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Department of Computer Science Home Page. http://cs.illinois.edu (accessed Jan 2012). (5) Koehler, B. G.; Park, L. Y.; Kaplan, L. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 1505−1509. (6) Hasselt University Home Page. http://www.uhasselt.be/UH/ Actueel/PersTijdschriftenMedia/ToonPersmededeling.html?i=402 (accessed Jan 2012). (7) UHasselt@school Home Page. http://www.uhasselt.be/ uhasselt@school (accessed Jan 2012). (8) Guedens, W. J.; Reynders, M.; Mortier, T.; Avermaete, T. Outreach from Museums and Science Centres: More of the Same or Something Different? Presented at ECSITEAnnual Conference 2008 for science centres and museums, Budapest, 2008. (9) Minimum Legal Drinking Ages around the World. http://www2. potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html (accessed Jan 2012). (10) Texas Instruments Education Technology. http://education.ti. com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti84pse.html (accessed Jan 2012). (11) National Instruments Home Page. http://www.ni.com/ (accessed Jan 2012). (12) Voegel, P. D.; Quashnock, K. A.; Heil, K. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 681−684. (13) Voegel, P. D.; Quashnock, K. A.; Heil, K. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 634−636. (14) UHasselt@school Teaching Material Home Page. http://www. uhasselt.be/UH/uhasselt@school/Andere-initiatieven/Lesmateriaal/ Lesmateriaal-chemie-ARCHIEF.html (accessed Jan 2012). (15) Driving Under the Influence Project Home Page. http://www. uhasselt.be/UH/uhasselt@school/Andere-initiatieven/Lesmateriaal/ Lesmateriaal-Interdisciplinair.html (accessed Jan 2012). (16) “Chemistry and Culture” Project Home Page. http://www. chemieencultuur.be/r/welkom.html (accessed Jan 2012). (17) Lowe, H.; Cook, A. J. Further Higher Educ. 2003, 27, 53−76.

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