Submitted by:
Susan DeMesquita, Ph.D.
Professor
Physiology
Marshall University School of Medicine
1542 Spring Valley Drive
Huntington, WV 25755 USA
v: (304) 696-7365
f: (304) 696-7369
e: DAC007@MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU
Categories:
Education, K12
Keywords:
Innovative or improved ways of doing things; More equitable access to technology or electronic information; Creation of new ideas, products, or services; Technology transfer; Local commitment to network-based activities; Leverage of public funding; Volunteer contributions of time and energy; Partnerships between public and private sector
Supporting Documentation (contact author for more information):
Documentation; Slides/photographs
Story Site (if other than location listed above):
Athens, Wayne, Matewan, Harts, Welch (West Virginia)
The Story:
Mentoring Science Students via Electronic Mail
A pervasive problem in rural West Virginia schools is cultural isolation from varied educational resources. Telecommunications enables educators and students to engage in dialogue and collaboration with their peers, both locally and in geographically remote regions. Science-By-Electronic- Mail is a science mentoring program that utilizes varied resources to generate interest and prepare students for productive careers in science, engineering and medicine by providing both the student and teacher with real world tools, team work, scientific challenges, motivation, encouragement and global educational resources. The rural science teachers implement the program by integrating technological resources into their existing science programs.
The traditional Science-By-Mail program was developed by the Boston Museum of Science and links 23,000 students with 2,400 scientist “pen pals.” The children receive by mail three science challenge packets a year that focuses on subjects that are generally interesting to young people. The scientist serves as a mentor and role model by personally writing several letters of encouragement a year and providing scientific expertise in their area of study. Science-By-Electronic-Mail enhances the traditional program by utilizing multi-media packages, Internet resources and provides EMAIL as the mechanism for real-world scientific communications.
The current program is a cooperative venture between Sunrise museum, higher education, communities and federal agencies to enhance the traditional program with the advantages of electronic resources. This year’s pilot program will reach more than 160 rural West Virginia students in 5 science classes (7th-9th grades) in the Harts, Athens, Matewan, Welch and Wayne. Ten professional scientists from Marshall University, West Virginia University, West Virginia Tech, US Forest Service and Greenbank Observatory and five resource specialists will be working with the students and their teachers using the Internet. The science faculty will access the state-wide network via their campus connection to the state-wide networking system (WVNET). Each student and teacher will have their own EMAIL address. These accounts are a donation by the Marshall University Computer Center.
Script files, menus and icons are used to access EMAIL, NASA educational resources, ANU News service, Art St. James Internet Menu, West Virginia’s Public Library card catalogues, and University based library systems, etc.. The News service was specialized to include KIDSNET, other K-12 discussion groups, and Science-By-EMAIL site and group topics. A rich source of purchased and free educational software from the Internet were pre-load on the Macintosh computers. One of the science teachers plans to supplement her course work with additional software packages from NASA SpaceMet. Reference notebooks, team projects, pre and post questionnaires, Internet Scavenger Hunt, work-shops and site visits are included in the project.
A new global world rich in educational resources is now available to these rural West Virginia science students. The empowerment of technology, personal inspiration and knowledge from teachers and scientists is an investment in West Virginia’s long-term intellectual and economic growth.
For additional information contact:
Jan I. Fox, M.S., Chair
Academic Computing
Marshall University School of Medicine
1542 Spring Valley Drive
Huntington, WV 25755-9220
e: 304-696-7309
f: 304-696-7272
e: DAC001@MARSIIALL.WVNET.EDU