PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOOD OF SCIENCE

Carl Pennypacker and Barrett N. Rock

Group Charge: Student and scientist partnerships must have benefits for science as well as for students if they are to be self sustaining and successful. What can students contribute to scientific research efforts? What are the payoffs for science?

In order to promote student and scientist partnerships for the good of science, it is important to recognize the broad diversity and scope of science, scientists, students, and teachers characterizing today's world. No single, widely accepted definition of science is appropriate for defining partnerships. Science may be observational, experimental, qualitative, quantitative, hands-on, or theoretical. No single example of an SSP may be cited that is exactly right for all schools, student groups, and teachers. From the scientist's standpoint, access to data is a major goal of an effective SSP, and the challenge to the designers of such SSPs is to ensure that the data provided are as accurate and precise as possible.

For the scientist, access to data that may not be available in any other way may be one of the significant contributions made to the partnership by students. Data collected by students in schools scattered over a wide geographic area (from regional to global) may be cited as an attractive contribution to the researcher interested in studying species variation or population dynamics. Schools in remote areas may provide specific types of data for data-sparse regions. An additional advantage of student collections relates to the fact that multiple measurements of the same parameter improves the statistical soundness of a data base and confidence in the measurement. If two or more types of equipment can be used in measuring the same parameter (e.g., Hydrion paper used by younger students and a calibrated pH pen by older students), higher confidence in the final value will result. Finally, student data can contribute to the development of a long-term data base that would be difficult to develop in other ways. In the Forest Watch program students have been monitoring five white pine trees (permanently tagged and numbered) for several years. In some cases annual measurements of trunk diameters and tree heights for the same trees have been collected over the last five years.

From the school and student or teacher standpoint, a very different set of objectives and goals are seen. Improved science literacy is often cited by educators as the main goal of science education, with more focus placed on the process of doing science rather than the content of a specific scientific discipline. The hands-on nature of many of the SSPs involves the students more directly in the process of making collections and analyzing data, which in turn makes the science done more relevant to the student. If the student is involved only in the data collection phase of the process, then the danger of becoming a "data slave" must be considered.

The issue of a student's ability to make accurate and precise measurements is also a major concern of teachers (as well as scientists), to the extent that some schools never turn in their data due to fear that it is "not good enough." One of the keys to a successful SSP includes the direct involvement of the research scientist, in collaboration with the classroom teacher, in the selection of the equipment and the development of the protocols to be used by the students, so that age-appropriate methods of collecting data can be identified.

The discussions during the working group session identified important issues to be addressed in the development of SSP programs. These issues are listed below but not in any particular order.

Science Issues

1. Data quality is perhaps the single most important issue from the scientist's point of view.
2. A successful SSP should include the direct involvement of the research scientist, in collaboration with the classroom teacher, in the selection of the equipment and the development of the protocols to be used by the students, so that age-appropriate methods of collecting data can be identified.
3. Data bases can be expanded (geographic, temporal) as a result of student contributions.
4. Many scientists are unwilling to "trust" student data or to publish results that include student data.
5. Scientists must become more effective at communicating their results to the rest of the world. They need to learn to speak "English" rather than "science." Involvement in SSPs provides a great opportunity to learn how best to communicate complicated material so that it is understood by the public.
6. Science credibility must be improved in the local community.

Education Issues

1. The student's view of what science really is must be improved.
2. Science literacy must also be improved.
3. Students need to become active participants, contributing to an important process, for science to become relevant to them.
4. The "student as data slave" perception should be avoided.
5. Student data should make a meaningful contribution to an ongoing research activity, as well as a contribution to curricular needs.
6. Teachers should be prepared to be the connection between the student and the scientist.
7. Access is needed to technologies (computers, Internet connections, equipment, etc.).
8. There is a need for follow-on support. Who does the teacher turn to if "something doesn't work"?
9. Classroom time should be scheduled for open-ended SSP activities, data collections (frequently off-campus), Internet connectivity for data entry, etc.
10. An important question is "How does participation in an SSP prepare the student for SAT-types of evaluation?
11. How one goes from data collector to synthesizer (data analysis) is an issue.
12. There is a need to cover base line costs of involvement in SSPs.

Group Recommendations

Scientists need to become actively involved in working with the classroom teacher to develop age-appropriate materials and activities (including data collection) as essential components of an SSP. It is not acceptable for the scientists to simply request and receive data—they must take an active role in assisting the teachers and students in the data collection and data analysis processes.

Methods must be developed to utilize the technology that is already available in schools, as well as to implement existing technology with additional capabilities (computers, connectivity, equipment, etc.) as appropriate.

Mentoring by the research scientists and their teams (graduate students, undergraduate students, technicians, etc.) is seen as an essential contribution by the scientists to a student and scientist partnership. Follow-on technical (and moral) support is needed in the classroom if success is to be achieved. Feedback is a two-way street, going both to and from the classroom and research lab.

The scientist must understand the classroom environment so that measurement activities are both realistic and interesting. The measurement activities need to fit within existing curricular requirements.