A New Type of Partnership for Science Outreach: Princeton Center for Complex Materials, Strange Matter and the Liberty Science Center

2004 ◽  
Vol 861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Complex Materials ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Science Centers ◽  
Science Outreach ◽  
Strange Matter ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Princeton University

AbstractAll National Science Foundation funded MRSEC centers have education, outreach and community service as one of their major objectives. The Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) takes this commitment very seriously. PCCM runs a full slate of education activities including a host of Pre-college science and engineering programs and a research experience for undergraduates and teachers program each summer. Our outreach programs are designed to increase awareness, appreciation and knowledge of materials science.Liberty Science Center (LSC) in Jersey City, New Jersey and the Strange Matter traveling exhibit allowed PCCM to expand its outreach program to include tens of thousands of family audience members. LSC gets 1000's of visitors each weekend, and has expertise in communicating with this audience. Princeton University scientists have expertise in materials science. This partnership required coordination between the LSC staff and the PCCM outreach director in facilitating the training and presentations by faculty and other scientists from Princeton. Together we developed a program that sent over 30 scientists from Princeton University to the liberty science center to offer their enthusiasm for material science to the public. Scientists can reach a much larger audience at a science center than at their home institutions. This can be repeated anywhere in the country where there are science centers is and university research centers willing to work together.

Making Stuff at Princeton University

2011 ◽  
Vol 1364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Steinberg ◽  
Shannon Greco
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Science Center ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Scientists And Engineers

ABSTRACTThe Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) joined the PBS NOVA/MRS Making Stuff coalition and created a program to inspire middle school students and their teachers about materials science during exciting large programs at Princeton University and multiple pre and post events. As a National Science Foundation funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, it is part of PCCM’s mission to inspire and educate school children, teachers and the public about STEM and materials science. Research shows that it is critical to excite students at a young age and maintain that excitement, and without that these, students are two to three times less likely to have any interest in science and engineering and pursue science careers as adults. The Making Stuff TV series offered a great teachable moment in materials science for students and teachers alike. The four episodes, Stronger, Smaller, Smarter and Cleaner aired in January and February, 2011. Our complementary education program helped promote the viewership of the Making Stuff series in the region, and the NOVA episodes helped us by priming the teachers and students to learn more about materials science research conducted at Princeton University. The Making Stuff coalition events we conducted were designed to have the maximum positive impact on students’ attitudes towards science and scientists, in general, and materials scientists and engineers, specifically. Each and every student had an opportunity to interact with dozens of scientists and engineers, in the lab, at table demonstrations and lecture presentations. As an ongoing MRSEC education and outreach program we have developed many successful educational partnerships to increase our impact. Plus, through years of successful education programs and the participation of our materials scientists and engineers, we have cultivated great trust in the schools and local community. The schools eagerly joined as partners in the program to bring their students to the event. Teachers from those partner schools actively participated in associated professional development programs conducted by education staff and PCCM professors before and after the big event. Included were presentations by MRSEC members and the partners from Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM), Princeton University’s chemistry department, DOE funded centers PP-SOC and PPPL, Liberty Science Center, Franklin Institute, our PBS partner NJN and our many school district partners.

Innovative Evaluation of Two Materials Science Education Enrichment Programs

2009 ◽  
Vol 1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jonathan Steinberg ◽  
Shannon L. Greco ◽  
Kimberly Carroll
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Middle School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Scientists And Engineers ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) is an NSF-funded Materials Science and Research Center (MRSEC) at Princeton. PCCM currently has four Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and several seed projects. PCCM runs a variety of education outreach programs that include: Research Experience for Undergraduates, Research Experience for Teachers, Materials Camp for Teachers, Middle School Science and Engineering Expo (SEE) for 1200 students, and Princeton University Materials Academy (PUMA), for inner city high school students. In this paper we focus on new evaluation efforts for the PUMA and the Science and Engineering Expo. We will discuss first PUMA the SEE and elaborate on the new evaluation efforts for each program.Created in 2002 by PCCM, PUMA has an inquiry based materials science curriculum designed to work at the high school level. PUMA's activities are paired with an inquiry based evaluation of scientific ability and attitude change. An evaluation of high school students' ability to formulate scientific questions as a result of their participation in this summer program based was developed based on similar studies of college students questioning ability in inquiry learning environments. Created in 2004 by PCCM and partners in Molecular Biology, SEE is run once per year in the spring. It is a day dedicated to capturing the imaginations of young students through science demonstrations and direct interaction with materials scientists and engineers. 1000 middle school students from local schools come to Princeton University to interact with Princeton scientists and engineers and explore science with the help of demonstrations and hands-on activities. Throughout the day, they explore a wide range research from Princeton that is at the cutting edge of science and engineering to generate excitement about science and engineering. In addition to studying over 5000's student written essays we have constructed a pre and post test for student attitudes administered to over 500 students in 2009 to determine the impact of the SEE on students' attitudes about materials science and STEM fields. This large scale attitude assessment and student written statements help to establish the impact of this one day program.

Kitchen Matters: Virtual materials science outreach through food and cooking

Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 2578-2581
Author(s):  
Mingyu Yang ◽  
Camille C. Farruggio ◽  
Jacqueline E. Baidoo ◽  
W. Robin Lindemann ◽  
Ethan R. Rosenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Science Outreach

High-Impact Practices in Materials Science Education: Student Research Internships Leading to Pedagogical Innovation in STEM Laboratory Learning Activities

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (31-32) ◽  
pp. 1667-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lon A. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Student Research ◽  
Pedagogical Innovation

ABSTRACTTraditional lecture-centered approaches alone are inadequate for preparing students for the challenges of creative problem solving in the STEM disciplines. As an alternative, learnercentered and other high-impact pedagogies are gaining prominence. The Wabash College 3D Printing and Fabrication Center (3D-PFC) supports several initiatives on campus, but one of the most successful is a computer-aided design (CAD) and fabrication-based undergraduate research internship program. The first cohort of four students participated in an eight-week program during the summer of 2015. A second group of the four students was successfully recruited to participate the following summer. This intensive materials science research experience challenged students to employ digital design and fabrication in the design, testing, and construction of inexpensive scientific instrumentation for use in introductory STEM courses at Wabash College. The student research interns ultimately produced a variety of successful new designs that could be produced for less than $25 per device and successfully detect analytes of interest down to concentrations in the parts per million (ppm) range. These student-produced instruments have enabled innovations in the way introductory instrumental analysis is taught on campus. Beyond summer work, the 3D-PFC staffed student interns during the academic year, where they collaborated on various cross-disciplinary projects with students and faculty from departments such as mathematics, physics, biology, rhetoric, history, classics, and English. Thus far, the student work has led to three campus presentations, four presentations at national professional conferences, and three peer-reviewed publications. The following report highlights initial progress as well as preliminary assessment findings.

The Potential for Science Centers in Student-Teacher-Scientist Partnerships

2021 ◽  
pp. 213-228
Author(s):  
Joe E. Heimlich ◽  
Andy Aichele ◽  
Frederic Bertley
Keyword(s):  
Student Teacher ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Science Centers ◽  
Technology Centers ◽  
Informal Educators ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Science centers and museums have been heavily invested in helping scientists engage in reaching broader publics. Starting with understanding the types of learning that happen in these institutions, the chapter explores the roles of science centers in society as defined by the Association of Science and Technology Centers. The authors explore how those roles play out in COSI, a large science center in Columbus, Ohio. Each of the roles identified is tied to programs related to the interface among school-aged youth, teachers (formal and informal educators), and scientists. The authors explore these roles by describing each program and then laying out the theoretical foundations and the desired outcomes of the engagement.

Combined Mechanical Engineering Materials Lecture and Mechanics of Materials Laboratory: Cross-Disciplinary Teaching

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Engineering ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Tensile Shear ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Mechanics Of Materials ◽  
Engineering Materials ◽  
Selection Of

We have developed a course combining a Mechanical Engineering Materials Laboratory with a Materials Science lecture for a small combined population of undergraduate Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering students. By judicious selection of topic order, we have been able to utilize one lecture and one laboratory for both Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering students (with limited splitting of groups). The primary reasons for combining the Mechanical and Biomedical students are to reduce faculty load and required resources in a small university. For schools with medium or small Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering programs, class sizes could be improved if they could include other populations. The heterogeneous populations also aid in teaching students that the same engineering techniques are useful in more than a single engineering realm. The laboratory sections begin with the issues common to designing and evaluating mechanical testing, followed by tensile, shear, and torsion evaluation of metals. To introduce composite materials, wood and cement are evaluated. While the Mechanical Engineering students are evaluating impact and strain gauges, the Biomedical Engineering students are performing tensile studies of soft tissues, and compression of long bones. The basic materials lectures (beginning at the atomic level) are in common with both Mechanical and Biomedical student populations, until specific topics such as human body materials are discussed. Three quarters of the term is thus taught on a joint basis, and three or four lectures are split. Basic metal, plastic and wood behavior is common to both groups.

scholarly journals What Biological Visualizations Do Science Center Visitors Prefer in an Interactive Touch Table?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Höst ◽  
Konrad Schönborn ◽  
Henry Fröcklin ◽  
Lena Tibell
Keyword(s):  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Data Logging ◽  
Finger Movements ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Science Centers ◽  
Holding Power ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Ranking Score ◽  
Future Work

Hands-on digital interactivity in science centers provides new communicative opportunities. The Microcosmos multi-touch table allows visitors to interact with 64 image “cards” of (sub)microscopic biological structures and processes embedded across seven theme categories. This study presents the integration of biological content, interactive features and logging capabilities into the table, and analyses visitors’ usage and preferences. Data logging recorded 2,070,350 events including activated category, selected card, and various finger-based gestures. Visitors interacted with all cards during 858 sessions (96 s on average). Finger movements covered an average accumulated distance of 4.6 m per session, and about 56% of card interactions involved two fingers. Visitors made 5.53 category switches per session on average, and the virus category was most activated (average 0.96 per session). An overall ranking score related to card attractive power and holding power revealed that six of the most highly used cards depicted viruses and four were colourful instrument output images. The large finger traversal distance and proportion of two-finger card interaction may indicate the intuitiveness of the gestures. Observed trends in visitor engagement with the biological visualizations are considered in terms of construal level theory. Future work will examine how interactions are related to potential learning of biological content.

Ural Neutron Materials Science Center

Neutron News ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Goshchitskii ◽  
Anatoly Menshikov
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Science Center
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