K-STATE PROGRAM WILL HELP TRANSLATE SCIENCE INTO ENGLISH

 

This fall will mark the beginning of a special collaborative effort between graduate students at K-State and teachers at Junction City High School in Geary County USD 475.

The National Science Foundation awarded K-State a $2.7 million grant for five years to establish a K-State-based project of the foundation's Graduate Science Fellows in Kindergarten through 12th Grade Education program. The K-State project will work to improve the communication and collaboration skills of young scientists while enriching science content in the classroom.

To prepare for the start of the program, teachers from Junction City High School and graduate students from K-State recently participated in a two-week intensive training session. Carolyn Ferguson, left, associate professor of biology at K-State, is director and principal investigator of the project, which is known as Evidence-based Inquiry into the Distant, Remote or Past. Scott Tanona, assistant professor of philosophy at K-State, and Jackie Spears, director of the K-State Center for Science Education, were co-directors of the training session.

Eight K-State graduate students from various science disciplines were selected as the project's first fellows. Each fellow will receive a one-year stipend of $30,000 and will be paired with a teacher from Junction City High School for the upcoming school year.

The graduate fellows will become models for the high school students and will provide a content specialist for the classroom to fill the gaps in explanation of scientific theories that might otherwise be left unexplained.

More information about the Graduate Science Fellows in Kindergarten through 12th Grade Education program at K-State is available at http://www.k-state.edu/gk12