Teachers and Students Learn from Summer Mentorships at the Magnet Lab

July 17, 2000

Contact:
Pat Dixon, (850) 644-5818

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Magnet Lab is wrapping up two exciting summer programs that will send teachers and students back to their classrooms, with greatly expanded new insights into science and research. Highly competitive on a national level, the laboratory's Research Experiences for Teachers and Undergraduates (RET/REU) programs included 16 teachers and 21 students. Over half of the teachers were from the local area, spanning Tallahassee, Monticello, and Pinetta. Five of the students were from FSU or FAMU. Jenny Mecias, a Betton Hills Preparatory School teacher, was thrilled with her summer opportunity and said that "this program has helped me to experience teaching and learning in different areas and I will certainly be able to take it back with me to my classroom."

The six-week RET program, in its second summer at the laboratory, gave K-12 teachers the opportunity to participate in research projects, such as using Spanish moss as an atmospheric indicator and microscopy of fresh water protozoa, and to develop new teaching strategies and resource materials. Through weekly seminars, teachers interacted with undergraduate science majors -- the REU participants.

Lynne Sapp, a Pinetta Elementary School teacher, conducted an informal survey of the contributing factors to the students', teachers', and researchers' decision to major or work in science. Inspired by one undergraduate's memories of her sixth grade teacher's unit on insects, Sapp says, "when I return to my classroom this fall, I will be implementing the Spanish moss activities I worked on this summer, but let there be no doubt, when we do our unit on arthropods, I will have giant insects hanging from the ceiling!"

The eight-week REU program, in its eighth summer, fully integrates university students into the science and engineering activities of the laboratory. Students were paired with scientists and engineers, and worked on a variety of projects, such as building a probe bench for a spectrometer project and preparing samples for microscopic examination. In addition to the five FSU or FAMU students, the REU group included undergraduates from California, Colorado, Vermont, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

Teachers, returning to their schools as ambassadors of the NHMFL, will share their experiences with other teachers and bring the excitement of real-world science into their classrooms. In addition, they will provide the Magnet Lab with feedback by videotaping a science lesson in their classrooms. Student interns are encouraged to present the results of their research at regional and national programs and will be paired with ongoing research projects that are of interest to them.

The Center for Integrating Research and Learning at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory supports educational programming at all academic levels: K-12, technical, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral. The programs are designed to excite and educate students, teachers, and the general public about science, technology, and the world around them. For more information, visit the website at http://education.magnet.fsu.edu/.