Students who are learning the periodic table or methods for measuring water quality aren't satisfied with being forced to memorize this information just so they'll do well on the next exam. If they see that there is a real-world reason to learn scientific concepts and principles, the lines on a syllabus seem much more relevant.
That's the general idea behind Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities, a program that connects college-level scientific education to problems in the real world. Since 2004 it's been run out of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology as part of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. The program was rewarded last week with a nearly $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
University Provost Eric Darr explains that the program embeds special projects into college courses at schools all over the United States, along with Canada and the United Kingdom. For example, statistics students at a university in Minnesota have studied the local impact of home foreclosures and levels of mercury in local lakes. Students at a Connecticut college examined nearby coastline to discern the possible local impact of climate change.
In the future, Darr hopes to build partnerships with government agencies and for-profit companies into the program. Students could work with these organizations on research projects that are already on their to-do lists. “It may have to do with bridges and bridge safety,” Darr says. “It could be measuring the impact of flushing prescription drugs into the water supply.”
Source: Eric Darr, Harrisburg University
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
