PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #21: Education.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall

Impact of NSF GK–12 TIGERs Fellows on science education in the middle grades of West Virginia Schools.

Springer, Clint¹, Banasick, Shawn ¹, Glaspell, Garry¹, Pratt, Amy¹, Cumming, Jonathan¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- TIGERs is an interdisciplinary project formed of teams of graduate fellows from various science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines. TIGERs fellows work cooperatively with middle school mathematics and science teachers to co–plan and co–teach students at participating schools. The TIGERs Watershed team is composed of graduate students from biology, chemistry, and geography. A group of interdisciplinary activities was developed to address the complex knowledge needed to understand the concept of a watershed at the middle school level. These activities and experiments were inquiry–based, hands–on, and involved group work and field trips. The activities were designed to encourage experimental design principles, data collection and organization skills in both field and laboratory settings, as well as data synthesis and analysis techniques through mathematics and computer software. GPS, digital imaging, GIS, graphing calculators, and the Internet were also utilized to carry out these goals. Students used the knowledge gained from these activities to draw conclusions about biotic and abiotic factors affecting watershed systems. After all activities were completed, the students were asked to present their results to their classmates and others. Oral presentations showed that students had gained a wider breadth of knowledge of watershed systems and experimental design during the academic year than they would normally receive. Furthermore, a survey of student knowledge and interest indicated that the watershed thematic approach fulfilled the TIGERs program objectives.

KEY WORDS: Science education, NSF GK–12 Teaching Fellows