- Polymer Science in a Governor's School Teaching an Advanced Topic to Gifted High School Students Lon J. Mathlas and Robson F. Storey Department of Polymer Science. University of Southern Mississippi, Haniesburg, MS 39406 A governor's school is one of the most exciting and rewarding iduratiunal rxprrinnrea students and facilty can have. Many high school and college tearhers are not familar with the handful of eovernur's srhuols that exist in America. This article will describe the 1984 session of the Mississippi Governor's School with emphasis on the course in polymer science that we taught.
Four major types of in-class activities were successful in motivating and maintaining student interest. The first half hour was devoted to general discussion of subjects from nrevious lessons. out of class ohservation. and newsworthv information relating to polymers and their utilization in evewdav . - life. The other three seements included a comnuter course and two structured discussion sessions.
Student Seledlon and School Format The Mississippi Governor's School is an intensive threeweek summer school for gifted high school students. The students and faculty live together, work together, and play together. The primary goal is to give exceptional students an opportunity to use their abilities fully in atypical "courses" that stimulate and challenge. This school is an example of Mississippi's ongoing effort t o improve education in the state at all levels. The approximately 150 high school students selected each vear are intellectual leaders of the risine iunior and senior classes. The average ACT score for the 1982 class was 28 and the lowest IQ was 127. Each hieh school nominated two or three individbals based un rhesdsrores as well as grade point a\wage, drmonstrntcd creativity, and leadership ahility. Final selection took into account distribution of students by count\, and high school. The familv barkarounds of the studentsianged from farmers and huiinessmen to doctors and state senators. Fourteen courses were included in the 1984 session. The overall theme was "1984: The Future Is Now", and the students were all exposed to Orwell's vision of "1984" in comparison to what actually has developed. The major courses included tonics in arts and humanities. the social and osvcholorical f/eids, mathematics, and the physical scienc&. A t s ~ i c adailv l schedule for Governor's School devoted all mornKg to themajor course, early afternoon to the major course lab or interest areas, late afternoon to recreation, and evening to training in self-defense, CPR, and aerobics, or special performances, films, and dances. Total contact time for the major courses was 55 hours. The Tuesday and Thursday afternoon sessions involved on-stage rehearsal, special discussions and presentations, or (in our case) an actual hands-on laboratory. Interest areas (minor courses) met Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons with topics ranging from canoeing t o concert hand to radio hroadcasting. Recreation and sports activities, informal interaction among students and teachers, and organized dances, plays, movies, and presentations provided necessary time for developing interpersonal relationships and channeling the excess energy of the students.
The ACS Computer Course In Polymer Chemistry The course content was centered around the American Chemical Society computer course in polymer chemistry. Students were eiven 60-90 minutes of in-class time on three Apple comput&s (Fig. 1 ). More timeper student would have been heneficial; we would rerommend at least 3 - 4 5 minutes per student per session. Perhaps translation of educational computer material to less-expensive systems (e.g., the Commodore 64) would make more svstems available. The material in the seven-disk course is intended for chemists with reasonably complete undergraduate backgrounds in science and mathematics. The major difficulty for high school students was not havine sufficient backgrouni knowledge. We found that advanced high school students were able tounderstand and assimilate much of the information when supplemental material was provided. However, an average student would have difficulty with the ACS course, especially if the instructor were not knowledgahle and comfortable with polymers. With appropriate modification and extension, this course could become a valuable adjunct to high school and junior college courses in physical science, physics, and chemistry. Table 1 lists the topics covered in the ACS course with approximate times of study the students invested in each. Emphasis was given to those disks that contained information most easily grasped without supplemental material. Discussions of detailed mechanisms, kinetics, and the mathematical or theoretical bases for reactions and properties were not easily understood. The use of the study guide supplied with the course was beneficial, although a greater variety and range of difficulty in the problems would allow those using the disks to extend and evaluate better their understanding.
Malor Course Format The major courses prnvided the primary educational opportunity for the 12-15studel1rs in each. Afteriusr twodays, we found that a lecture and discussion format used in a typical college setting was unworkahle in the Governor's School. The courses were clearlv not "teachine" in the normal sense since there was no motivational requirement to nass tests and make erades. Fortunatelv we had incornorati d flexibility into t
