Today's Middle Schoolers; Tomorrow's Engineers
04/16/2009
Photos: Michael Marsland, Yale University
For years the U.S. has struggled to increase and retain student interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). There is a stark contrast in STEM degrees compared to Asian and European countries. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), 37% of the bachelor’s degrees awarded annually in China go to engineering majors; in the U.S. this number is five percent.
Ainissa Ramirez, associate professor of mechanical engineering and creator of Science Saturdays, expresses the need for growth in STEM by saying: “In a technologically-driven society, we need citizens who can comprehend science. With increased literacy, the general public can make informed decisions. But, more importantly, not knowing science in our world is like looking at an image that is incomplete. You cannot know its beauty fully.”
One way to increase STEM enrollment in the US is to create opportunities for children to get excited about science. It is widely recognized that kids begin to lose interest in the sciences in middle school (grades 5 – 8), attributed to a myriad of factors including the quality of instruction, loss of confidence in aptitude as content becomes more and more challenging, and inability to relate what is taught in the classroom to the professional. For this reason, NSF, among other agencies, has directed resources to outreach – making science and engineering accessible, in part, to inspire interest and participation. Science Saturdays is one of several outreach programs at Yale that aims to do just that. Since its inception in 2004, Science Saturdays has become a highly popular program, reaching a broad spectrum of the New Haven community and beyond.
This spring’s series has drawn crowds of nearly 130 participants – primarily middle school-aged children and families from the New Haven community, but from as far as New Jersey. Kids hear from leading researchers on topics ranging from electric cars to nanotechnology and best of all, participate in hands-on demonstrations. “Understanding how things work and creating new possibilities are basic benefits of being a scientist,” says Ramirez. “This program aims to show that and highlight a few of the areas that are making news now.”Science lectures are disseminated on DVD to local schools, broadcast over local television, and video-streamed online. “We are developing a presence on iTunes, YouTube and Facebook as well,” says Ramirez, “and franchising to other universities like North Carolina State University (NCSU). “
Science Saturdays proudly continues Yale’s long history of public science lectures, dating back to Benjamin Silliman’s (Yale 1796) first public science lecture in 1808. Silliman is widely regarded as the father of science education in the U.S., setting a precedent for excellence in science communication. Along the same vain, Science Saturdays seeks to make science accessible to the public, especially to our young future scientists and engineers.
If you have not yet attended a Science Saturdays program, you’ll have one more opportunity before the school year ends. This Saturday, April 18, Yet-Ming Chiang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of materials science, will present “Batteries, Transportation and Climate Change: Why your future car will be electric.” It’s free, it’s fun and it’s open to everyone with a curious mind. For more information, please visit the Science Saturdays website.For a description of this week’s program, please also visit Yale’s Office of Public Affairs.
For more information, contact Thea Reilkoff, SEAS Director of External Relations at (203) 432-4244 or thea.reilkoff@yale.edu.
Listen to the Yale University Netcast, "Science Saturdays: Yale Outreach Program Gets Children of All Ages Hooked on Science" with Ainissa Ramirez, where she describes the upcoming attractions in Yale's Science Saturdays, a program that uses "doughnuts, demonstrations and dynamic lectures" to make science fun and accessible.
