A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OUTREACH PROGRAM

Outreach Programs in Materials Science and Engineering Edited by: Dan Thoma, Katherine Chen TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2007 A SC...
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Outreach Programs in Materials Science and Engineering Edited by: Dan Thoma, Katherine Chen TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2007

A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OUTREACH PROGRAM

C.J. Boehlert Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Keywords: scanning electron microscopy, outreach, education Abstract

This paper describes an outreach program based on scanning electron microscopy education, termed SEMED. This program involved hands-on instruction in use of a scanning electron microscope and was designed to stimulate students’ interest in learning more about materials science and engineering. The major objective was to educate middle and high school students, their teachers, and non materials science and engineering majors on campus about materials science and engineering. Since the SEMED program’s inception in 2002, over 350 local high school students and their teachers have been educated through the SEMED outreach program. This successful outreach activity encouraged students to consider enrolling in university science programs including materials science and engineering. We have solicited student and teacher questionnaires from the local middle and high school participants and used the information to improve the program. In addition, data was collected regarding the impact of the program on the decisions made by the students regarding their career/major choices. Another objective of this outreach engineering education activity was to provide undergraduate and graduate materials science and engineering students with an opportunity to learn about materials science and engineering through an educational experience involving instruction of local high school students and nonengineering majors on campus. This activity provided beneficial leadership and instructional skills to all the students who participated. The intent of this activity was to allow the undergraduate students to teach the techniques they learned in their undergraduate microscopy course, namely secondary electron microscopy sample preparation and microstructural characterization techniques including how to operate a scanning electron microscope and obtain useful data such as images and sample compositional information. Thus the students traveled full circle on the education process cycle through the “learn one, do one, teach one” philosophy. The undergraduate microscopy course contained a significant hands-on laboratory component, and the service-learning component was considered to be a major part of this activity. The activity also resulted in a greater knowledge and appreciation by high school students and non-materials science students of what materials science and engineering entails, and it served to attract such students to a career related to materials science and engineering. This paper highlights all aspects of the SEMED program. Introduction Many middle school and high school youth have little knowledge of materials science and engineering (MSE) career options. Parents, teachers, and educators lack exposure to what materials scientists and materials researchers, with MSE degrees, do in the job world. Thus, less

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high school students tend to choose to enroll in MSE degree programs compared to their betterknown counterparts of mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering. Early education is a key element in engineering program career awareness. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a tool used by materials scientists and researchers in academia, government, and industry and has the potential to induce excitement and enthusiasm in a prospective student’s career choice. The intent of this paper is to describe the experiences and activities from a NSF-sponsored outreach program conducted at Alfred University and Michigan State University. The emphasis of this program was on exposing high school students and their teachers to hands-on demonstrations of SEM with the goal of creating awareness to emerging career opportunities in MSE. The interactive nature of this activity with hands-on experience was the key towards the success of this program, which also included a significant service learning component for undergraduate engineering students enrolled in MSE programs. Background Over the past decade there has been a significant amount of discussion about issues in secondary and higher education in the United States. One of the major concerns is the question of how to value, structure, and change classroom teaching in light of the challenges to established teaching modes brought about by the increasing social and cultural diversity of middle school and high school students. In the mid-1990s, Elaine Seymour [1,2] studied the factors bearing upon the decisions of undergraduates at four-year colleges and universities to switch from science, mathematics, and engineering majors into disciplines that are not science based. Two of the top three factors she found were lack of interest in science and poor teaching by the faculty in those disciplines; the former potentially being related to the latter. The poor acceptance of students in these disciplines to teaching may be related to the fact that most people of high school and college age are active and visual, while most college teaching in these fields is passive and verbal; the information presented is predominantly auditory or a visual representation of auditory information [3,4]. Teaching by telling is an ineffective mode of instruction for most students and the traditional presentation is not a very efficient method for developing the type of functional understanding that enables students to apply the basic concepts [5,6]. To bring about a significant conceptual change, it is necessary to engage students at a sufficiently deep intellectual level. Engaging students is one way to expand the number of students receiving associate and baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within science, technology, and engineering. In addition, cognizance of the variety of science and engineering careers is critical to attract and maintain talented people within these fields. One learning environment designed to encourage intellectual growth is the practicetheory-practice model developed by Knefelkamp which has been applied in engineering education by Culver [7-9]. In this model a concrete experience or practice is used to introduce the concept. Then theory is developed to explain the experience. Finally, further practice is used to reinforce the theory and to provide an extension to other material. In this way, science and engineering students have been found to significantly deepen their understanding of even very difficult material [10]. If applied properly, this type of teaching methodology can help educate students with skills which employers seek. In particular, employers seek team-oriented individuals with exceptional communication skills and leadership qualities. Research on engineering education has shown that open-ended, team-oriented projects which are credible to students and integrate subject matter are quite successful [11]. When facilitated by the proper instruction, team exercises that integrate subject matter can promote leadership and communication skills as well as learning. Communication skills, team-orientation, and leadership, have been the focus of a “handson” educational outreach program that has successfully educated hundreds of students since its inception at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in 1991. Prior to the inception of this 2

program, two surveys were conducted at local high schools. The first survey revealed that teachers desired working with SEMs above any other scientific instrument, while the other found that students respond positively to hands-on work more than other type. Because of these findings, meetings were conducted and a formal program, called Scanning Electron Microscopy Educators (SEMeds: see http://www.asccxe.wpafb.af.mil/semeds1.html for details), was conceived and initiated. In SEMeds, scientists and engineers at AFRL educate local high-school students about electron microscopy using a practice-theory-practice style of teaching. During the school year, on average two sessions were held per month after work hours at the SEM laboratories of AFRL. The students were given hands-on experience in the use of a SEM. This program offered rare access for students and teachers to the same high-tech equipment used by materials scientists and engineers. The students overwhelming response to the appealing program made this ongoing outreach program a success. Due significantly to the events of September 11, 2001, however, the high schools have less access to AFRL and the current SEMeds program involves a greater outreach component where a specially-designed bus, . . equipped with multiple SEMs, is driven to local high schools to continue this effort. The success of the SEMeds program overflowed into a similar program, simply titled Alfred University’s Scanning Electron Microscopy Education (SEMED) Program, see http://semed.alfred.edu. Over 350 high school students and their teachers have been educated since its conception in 2001. This program has also been initiated at Michigan State University in the Fall of 2005, see http://www.egr.msu.edu/~boehlert/SEMED. Discussion Objectives of the SEMED outreach program In an effort to improve public awareness of science and engineering careers, and in particular MSE, the SEMED outreach program also targeted high school teachers, who provide a long-term connection to future generations of science and engineering students. This motivational sciencebased program’s efforts were designed to educate high school students, high school teachers, and non-engineering majors on campus about an exciting tool, the SEM, which can potentially stimulate students’ interests in a career in the engineering and science fields. The primary objective of the activity was to provide students with an opportunity to learn about MSE through an educational experience involving instruction of local high school students and nonengineering majors on campus. Another objective of this program was to educate non-majors, high school students, and teachers about MSE. Overall the goals were to: 1. demonstrate that science is fun and interesting 2. allow undergraduate engineering students to learn through teaching other students (i.e. service learning activity) 3. demonstrate how science can be used in a working environment 4. establish a connection between the classroom and the real world 5. meet the needs of the community by providing an outreach activity between the university and local high schools Alfred University undergraduate students enrolled in CES 252 Microscopy and Microstructural Characterization were involved in teaching the high school students and their teachers on SEM techniques. CES 252 is offered every semester with the author serving as instructor or coinstructor continuously since the Fall 2002 semester. The intent of this service learning program was to allow the CES 252 undergraduate students to teach the techniques they learned in the course. Thus, the CES 252 students traveled full circle on the education process cycle through the “learn one, do one, teach one” philosophy. The course contains a significant hands-on laboratory component and the service learning component was considered to be a major part of this activity.

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Organization This hands-on demonstration and learning program, including a highly integrated approach where non-engineering students on campus, high school students, and teachers are intermingled, was organized in the following manner. An organizational meeting was held in August with the program volunteers, student instructors, and the local high school teachers. At this meeting the teachers were introduced to the program objectives and allowed to actively participate in a typical SEM instructional session of their own. Before leaving, they signed up for sessions throughout the fall semester, which were scheduled after or during the school day. The SEMs were then reserved for those times and the student instructors and volunteers signed up for the appropriate instructors’ slots. During the actual SEMED session, the CES 252 student instructors or faculty, staff, and student volunteers (each of whom had been trained on use of the SEM previously) provided a brief lecture (approximately 30 minutes or less) to the high school students and teachers on the physics and chemistry of what makes the microscopes work and what they are used for. The groups, less than six students per SEM, then went to the SEM laboratory where the instructors were responsible for educating them hands-on regarding operation of the microscope. The instructor then allowed the students to drive the microscope and explore. The microscopes that were used included an Amray 1810 and an ETEC Autoscan, both of which were primarily used for teaching and ‘routine’ microscopy. In addition, a Phillips 515 SEM was used to accommodate larger groups. The entire session on the SEM lasted approximately one hour with the students switching between the three SEMs. For the first visit (usually in the fall semester), SEM samples (such as a penny, insect, glass, ceramic metal, composite, etc.) were prepared for the students to explore with help from the instructors. Before coming for their return visit, the high school students were asked to collect their own specimens (for example, mosquitoes, flies, paper, wood, sand dollars, broken metallic parts, gum, leaves, fabric, hair, electronic chip, etc.). This assignment was intended to challenge the students’ imagination. The students could then forward their collected specimens to the author who distributed them to the CES 252 student instructors or volunteers who in turn performed the SEM specimen preparation as necessary. Specimen preparation is one of the laboratory components of CES 252, and this allows the CES 252 students to practice what they learned in the laboratory. The CES 252 student instructors ensured that the specimens were ready for imaging once the high school students arrived. During their second visit, the students were allowed to control their own specimen, perform their own analysis, and take their own images with minimal intervention from the instructors. This process forced the students to think on their own. Some of the high school teachers required their students to perform an assignment on their observations. In particular, Patricia Eshelman of Bolivar Richburg High School (Bolivar, New York) requested that her AP Biology students complete a fourth quarter project directly related to the SEMED program. Below is a written description of the required project she expected her students to complete, which involved documenting their SEM observations, preparing a poster, and writing a scientific report on their observations. “Life Beneath The Naked Eye” The scanning electron microscope (SEM) has opened up a whole new way of seeing organisms. Instead of being limited to what light microscopes can do, scientists can use sub-atomic electrons to create pictures never before seen. Because Biology is a science of the observable, the SEM has given scientists a whole new vision. Alfred University is kind enough to offer us the chance to use their SEM with our classes, so that all students may see life beneath the naked eye. This project is two-fold. The first part of the project is to participate in a field trip to Alfred University. This field trip will include a lecture and a lab component. The lecture will be done by a college student or a professor and will explain how the SEM works and give some examples of how different professions can utilize the SEM. In the lab portion of this field trip, you will be 4

taught the basics of how to use the scanning electron microscope on your own. The second part of the project is your own. During this time, you will create pictures that you will use for a poster display here at Bolivar-Richburg. This poster display can either give an in-depth look at one specific organism and include information about that organism or your poster may look at a series of organisms that are connected in some manner (bacteria of the mouth, or five butterfly wings, for example). The people at Alfred University will help us prepare our specimens for use. This project will be worth 50 points 5 points -- Poster is well organized and visually stimulating 15 points -- Pictures are clear, relevant, and related. 15 points -- Information is well written, interesting, and accurate. 5 points -- Overall poster is professional 10 points -- Effort above and beyond the minimum is obvious Figures 1 and 2 depict examples of posters which were presented by the high school students, which included analysis of the size and structure of alpaca hair (used for knitting sweaters/clothing) in contrast to human and dog hair, Figure 1, and analysis of fly body components, Figure 2. Figure 3 depicts images of students involved in the SEMED program, and Tables 1-4 list the schedules of visits for the high schools along with the number of high school students as well as volunteers involved in the program. At the end of the school year feedback, in the form of assessment questionnaires, was requested from the students and teachers involved in the program. This feedback became a tool used to improve the program for the following semesters as this program was continuous and easily carried over from year to year. The CES 252 students used reflection to enhance the program and their feedback was also valuable for improvement of this service-learning activity.

Figure 1. High school student poster comparing alpaca, dog, and human hair sizes.

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Figure 2. High school student poster regarding analysis of fly body components. Table 1. SEMED program schedule (Fall 2002-Spring 2003) at Alfred University Session 0 Introduction 1

2

5

6

7

8

9

Time August 29, 2002 Thursday 12:00pm September 26th, 2002 Thursday 11:30am-1:15pm September 26th, 2002 Thursday 3-4:45pm December 12th, 2002 Thursday 1:00-3:00pm February 13th, 2003 Thursday 8:30-10:30am February 18thth, 2003 Tuesday 10:30am-1:00pm March 27th, 2003 Thursday 3:00-5:00pm April 10th, 2003 Thursday 11:00am-1:pm

High School Several local high school teachers

Volunteer Instructors All volunteers

Pat McDonald, BolivarRichburg, 7 AP Bio senior students Carrie Flanagan-Watson, Belfast, 6 seniors+5 juniors Chemistry+Physics students Eugene DiCaprio-Andover 11 seniors+juniors Chemistry+Physics students Debbie Hoffman-Hornell 12 juniors and senior AP Bio students AU non-majors (10)

Liping Xiong, Sean Allen, Erik Pavlino, Serkan Civelekoglu, Ward Votava, Carl Boehlert Darren M., Alex Fluegel, Caspar, Carl Boehlert

Carrie Flanagan-Watson, Belfast, 3 seniors +1 junior + 5 sophomores Chemistry+Physics students Pat McDonald, BolivarRichburg, 9 AP Bio senior students (2 first timers);

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Liping Xiong, Alex Fluegel, Darren Manter, Ward Votava, Carl Boehlert Liping Xiong, Erik Pavlino, Alex Fluegel, Dan Burnett, Carl Boehlert Erik Pavlino, Liping Xiong, Darren Manter Serkan Civelekoglu, Darren Manter, Michael Hanes, Christopher Cowen, Carl Boehlert Liping Xiong, Ravi Gundaraman, Alok Chauhan, Carl Boehlert; we prepared + looked at the bio samples they sent us: Odonata, cricket, fabric, human hair

Table 2. SEMED program schedule (Fall 2003-Summer 2004) at Alfred University Session 0 Introd. 1

2

3 4 5 6

7 8

9

10

11 12 13

14

15 16 17

20

Time 8/28/2003 12:00pm 10/16/2003 Thursday 9am-12:00pm

High School Davette Carpenter, science teacher Canisteo HS; Jan Hill, science teacher Bath High School Bolivar-Richburg, Christy Crandall-Bean, 85 8th grade students

1016/2003 10:45-12:15pm 1017/2003 Friday 12-2:00pm 10/30/2003 10:00-11:15am 10/30/22003 12:00-1:15pm 10/31/2003 Friday 9:30-12:00 11/19/2003 Wednesday 10:00-2:00pm 129/2004 Thursday 12:00-2:00pm 2/26/2004 Thursday 8:30-10:15am

Pat McDonald, Bolivar-Richburg, 6 AP Bio senior students Davette Carpenter, Canisteo HS, 7 senior Chemistry+Physics students

2/27/22004 Friday 8:30-11:00am

Alfred-Almond 8th grades; 72 students

3/30/2004 4:00-4:30pm 3/31/2004 3:30-5:00pm 4/2/2004 Thursday 9:45-11:30am

AU nonmajor (1)

Local HS teachers, Davette Carpenter, Canisteo, Jean Green, Troupsburg; 18 in total ~30 Local HS students participating in Materials Science Day; several different High Schools Carrie Flanagan-Watson, Belfast, 14 Chemistry students th Scio, 33 9 graders

Pat McDonald, Bolivar-Richburg, 6 AP Bio senior students (return visit) Paul Barniac, Alfred-Almond Chemistry 9-12th grades; 42 students

AU 3 nonmajors (ceramic art majors) Carrie Flanagan-Watson, Belfast, 10 Chemistry students (return visit); all juniors

4/2/2004 Friday 12:00-2:00pm

Davette Carpenter, Canisteo HS, 6 seniors (returning) Chemistry +Physics students

4/8/2004 4:00-4:45pm 4/12/2004 5:30-6:15pm 4/17/2004 1.30-3.30pm 6/28-30/2004 Mon-Wed. 9am-9pm

AU nonmajors (4) AU nonmajor (English and Math) Accepted Student Kickoff (ASK) high school seniors and their parents (60) 48-hr challenge 55 high school students and 12 teachers; Dryden HS, Irondequois, Garfield HS (Ohio), Yonkers HS, Alfred-Almond HS

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Volunteer Instructors All volunteers Dan Burnett III, Dingqiang Li, Ward Votava, Dan Dickmann, Chris Cowen, Jesse Struble, Katie Sieg, Carl Boehlert Dingqiang Li, Dan Dickmann, Chris Cowen, Carl Boehlert Dan Burnett III, Ravi Gundaraman, Erik Pavlino, Carl Boehlert Carl Boehlert, Dan Burnett III, Ward Votava, Dan Burnett, Ward Votava, Jesse Struble Christopher Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Dingqiang Li, Darren Manter Carl Boehlert, Ann Baldwin, Erik Pavlina, Dingqiang Li, Liping Xiong Dan Dickmann, Ward Votava, Liping Xiong, Dan Burnett III, Matthew Dispenza CES 252 Microscopy and Microstructural Characterization 18 students; Dan Dickmann, Christopher Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Dingqiang Li CES 252 Microscopy and Microstructural Characterization 18 students, Dan Dickmann, Christopher Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Dingqiang Li Melissa Ashton-Patton and Daniel Dickmann Gegory Hofstetter and Carl Boehlert CES 252 Microscopy and Microstructural Characterization 18 students, Dingqiang Li, Dan Dickmann, Carl Boehlert CES 252 Microscopy and Microstructural Characterization 18 students, Dingqiang Li, Dan Dickmann, Carl Boehlert Timothy Nedimeyer, Ray Janson, and Daniel Dickmann James Kelly and Carl Boehlert Christopher Cowen Christopher Cowen, Matt Dispenza, Ward Votava

Table 3. SEMED program schedule (Fall 2004) at Alfred University Session 1

2

3

4

5

6

Session 0

0 1

2

Time September 9th, 2004 Thursday 11:20am-12:10pm September 21th, 2004 Tuesday 11:30am-2:00pm October 15th, 2004 Friday 11:30am-2:00pm October 22th, 2004 Friday 8:30am-10:30am October 28th, 2004 Thursday 11:30am-1:30pm December 4th, 2004 Saturday 9:30am-2:30pm

High School AU Freshman Engineers (104)

Volunteer Instructors Krista Carlson, Darren Manter, Michael Wallace

Pat McDonald, Bolivar-Richburg, 9 AP Biology senior students

Darren Manter, Chris Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Dingqiang Li, Garrett McGowan, Daniel Burnett III Chris Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Garrett McGowan, Dingqiang Li, Matthew Dispenza Chris Cowen, Carl Boehlert, Garrett McGowan, Dingqiang Li, Ward Votava Chris Cowen, Qiquan Feng, Ward Votava

Pat McDonald, Bolivar-Richburg, 9 AP Biology senior students, 2nd visit Debbie Hoffman-Hornell 16 juniors (3) and seniors (13) AP Biology students Local high school students (~30) and teachers visiting for Materials Science Day; CanisteoGreenwood, Horseheads, AlfredAlmond, Naples, etc. 11 underprivileged Scio and Arkport youth; grades 3-7

Carl Boehlert, Garret McGowan, Christopher Cowen

Table 4. SEMED program schedule (Fall 2005) at Michigan State University Time High School Volunteer teachers August 23, 2005 Suzanne Rojas and Carolee East Lansing High School Tuesday Ware, Science teachers, Mason High School 12:00-1:30pm Orientation session Carl Boehlert, Jeff Quast Susan Maher, Science teacher, August 25, 2005 East Lansing High School Orientation session Thursday Carl Boehlert, Jeff Quast 2:00-3:30pm October 21th, 2005 Mason High School, Carl Boehlert, Jeffrey Quast, Friday 14 students, 11 seniors, 3juniors Carol Flegler, Ewa Danielewicz 11:30am-1:30pm (Carolee Ware) November 9, 2005 Lansing Community College Adam King (on SEM) + other Wednesday “2.5+2.5” high school students MSE students involved in other 6:00-7:00pm (17) from Everest High School, MSE demonstrations then etc.

Attendee Backgrounds Students and teachers from a variety of backgrounds took part in the program. They intended to learn about scanning electron microscopy and the current developments in the area of MSE. They wanted to better understand what people with MSE backgrounds do in the real world. This information could guide the students about a possible career in the area of MSE. The experience of the high school teachers ranged from five to fifteen years. SEM and MSE were new to most every teacher and student attending the program. The main way to overcome this was to educate them and to create awareness on the key elements in MSE careers. The SEMED program was one step towards achieving this. Assessment and Feedback After the students and teachers completed their second complete session using the SEMs, they were given an opportunity to relate their experience through a feedback form. Both the students and teachers were asked what they liked the most and what they liked the least about the 8

program. The assessment questionnaires indicated that the students and teachers alike enjoyed the hands-on demonstrations the most. Some the students felt that the program increased their likeliness to enter a career in MSE and also to attend college. Seventy-seven percent of the students had already visited Alfred University before they participated in this program. The least desired aspect of the course tended to be the first half-hour lecture/discussion of the theory on how an SEM functions. Thus, this aspect of the program is intended to be changed in order to maintain their attention and keep their focus on the stated objectives. However, it is also noted that the students particularly liked the pizza and submarine sandwiches, potato chips, and soda offered to the students during the initial thirty-minute lecture session. When asked about plans for secondary education, students responded with a variety of answers. Nearly 97% of the students stated that they intended to go to college. Three percent were not sure if they were going to attend a college or university post-high school. Less than 10% had decided to pursue MSE in their first year of college. The remainder of the students showed interests in things varying from culinary arts, business, forensic science, biology, history, earth science, physics, education, military, journalism, medicine, etc. When asked, “Did your SEMED visits make you more likely to go into a math and/or science related career field”, 33% stated “yes” and 67% stated “no”. When asked, “Did your SEMED visits make you think college is more important?” 67% stated “yes” and 33% stated “no”. The teacher questionnaire results were as follows. Eighty percent agreed that the SEMED leaders clearly explained the goals and objectives of the demo and the remaining 20% strongly agreed with this statement. Sixty percent agreed that the material was presented in an interesting manner, while 20% strongly agreed and 20% slightly agreed. The answers to the following request: Please provide an overall evaluation of your SEMED experience; ranged from “wow” to “pretty good”, which were the top two responses available on the questionnaire to be chosen with “ok”, “needs a little work”, “needs a lot of work”, and “total sleeper” as the remaining choices. Overall, the feedback received was both positive and encouraging. In particular, the teachers were now in a better position to guide students about the career opportunities in MSE. Both teachers and students were able to see connections between the program and the MSE profession. Both teachers and students found SEM to be a engaging tool. Summary The SEMED program at Alfred University (http://www.semed.alfred.edu) and Michigan State University (http://www.egr.msu.edu/~boehlert/SEMED) successfully introduced new engineering technologies and concepts to the high school students and their teachers. In summary, this project satisfied the requirements for service learning as it provided a means for undergraduate students to learn and develop through thoughtfully organized service that met the needs of the community, helped foster civic responsibility, and was integrated in and enhanced the academic curriculum of the students. It also included structured time for the students to reflect on the service experience. This program has been well received by the universities’ administration because it exposed students both to the university as well as the MSE discipline thereby acting as an unofficial recruitment tool to prospective students. Overall, the project offered integration of teaching, research, and activities within the university community. Data was collected regarding the impact of the program on the decisions made by the high school students regarding their career major choices and the university they attended. The faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate student volunteers learned a great deal about dealing with students from varied backgrounds. In the future, feedback forms could be designed to examine changes in the attendees’ responses before and after the program. This information would be helpful in determining if the program was helpful in assisting the students with selecting a career. In the future, this program should continue to focus on the hands-on demonstrations and teaching activities. While lectures are necessary for laying groundwork for more interesting activities, 9

most of the feedback received during the program asked for more time with hands-on activities and less classroom time. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through grant DMR-0533954. The author is grateful to the numerous faculty, staff, and students at Alfred University and Michigan State University who volunteered their valuable time to make this program successful. The author is also grateful to all the schools who participated in the SEMED program. References 1. E. Seymour, “Revisiting the ‘Problem Iceberg’: Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Students Still Chilled Out”, JCST, May 1995, p. 392-400. 2. E. Seymour, “The Loss of Women from Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Undergraduate Majors: An Explanatory Account”, Science Education, 79(4): 437-473 (1995). 3. R.M. Felder and L.K. Silverman, “Learning and teaching Styles in Engineering Education”, Engineering Education, April 1988, 674-681. 4. W.B. Barbe and M.N. Milone, “What we know about Modality Strengths”, Educational Leadership, February 1981, pp. 378-380. 5. L.C. McDermott and P.S. Shaffer, “Research as a guide for curriculum development: An example from introductory electricity. Part I: Investigation of student understanding”, Am. J. Phys. 60 (11), November 1992, p. 994-1002. 6. P.S. Shaffer and L.C. McDermott, “Research as a guide for curriculum development: An example from introductory electricity. Part II: Design of instructional strategies”, Am. J. Phys. 60 (11), November 1992, p. 1003-1013. 7. R.S. Culver, “Who’s in charge here? Stimulating self-managed learning”, Engineering Education, February 1987, 297. 8. R.S. Culver, “Motivation for continuing education”, Proceedings ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, IEEE, New York, 105-111, 1986. 9. R.S. Culver, “Applying the Perry Model of intellectual development to engineering education”, Proceedings ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, IEEE, New York, 9599, 1985. 10. P.R.L. Heron and L.C. McDermott, “Bridging the Gap Between Teaching and Learning in Geometrical Optics: The Role of Research”, Optics and Photonics News, September 1998, 3036. 11. R.B. Barr and J. Tagg, “From Teaching to Learning – A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education”, Change, November/December 1995, 13-25.

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