Kate Worster
Colorado Space Grant Consortium
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309 worsterk@colorado.edu
Abstract.
If education opens the doors of opportunity, provides chance to impact the world, and imparts a feeling of purpose, then it is the responsibility of those who have been given this gift to impart those keys to others. Research has shown that people learn in reaction to one or a combination of stimuli; vision, sound and touch. An instructor who can incorporate these learning styles into his presentation will be effective, but an instructor who can combine these learning styles and present the material in a fun, interesting and engaging manner will impact students fo rever. Students of the University of Colorado’s
Space Grant Consortium are sensitive to the benefits and importance of sharing their education in a way that teaches to all of today’s youth. This awareness has lead to the creation of an international outreach program for K through 12 schools regardless of financial status or country. This program focuses on the many disciplines of science, math, and engineering. Each topic is presented to the participants by students of Space Grant through a combination of visual aids and hands on activities. The purpose of this program is twofold: the first is to encourage the children to actively participate in their education by interacting with each other and the students of Space Grant. The second purpose is to he lp improve the overall quality of the education of today’s youth by providing students and educators an effective model that incorporates proven teaching methods.
invaluable skills, which can be applied to any profession. 1.0 Introduction
The fields of science, math, and engineering are vast and rapidly
1.1 NSGC Background
In 1988 Congress established the National Space Grant College growing fields, providing equally expanding opportunities for the world’s youth. Skeptics can question and Fellowship Program, which was designed to broaden the base of the importance of an education and awareness of these disciplines and may not appreciate their relevance.
Even if a student does not chose to pursue a career in the fields of science, math, or engineering an exposure to these disciplines will give the student a more well rounded education and universities and individuals contributing to and benefiting from aerospace science and technology and ultimately add to the development and utilization of space resources. The National Space
Grant College and Fellowship
Program (also known as Space
Grant) contributes to the nation's science enterprise by funding research, education, and public
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service projects through its national network of 52 university-based
Space Grant consortia. These consortia administer programs in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Included in the consortia's 703 affiliates are 493 academic institutions and 62 businesses. Other partners of this program include state and local government agencies, other federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Since its culmination,
Space Grant has awarded over
12,000 U.S. citizens with tuition assistance in science, engineering, and related fields of study.
One year after the progra m’s inception, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was charged with the implementation and oversight of this program.
NASA currently distributes annual funds to each of the 52 consortia with a Space Grant award that requires a 100 percent match with additional funds for fellowships.
According to the founding legislation of Space Grant, each consortium is required to designate a program director, establish a Space Grant office, develop and implement programs of public service, and provide nonfederal matching funds for their Space Grant program equal to that provided by NASA. The programs of public service combine information about interdisciplinary space-related topics with advisory activities. These programs are provided to other colleges, universities, and state and regional institutions with significantly large enrollments of racial minorities, women, and persons with disabilities who are underrepresented in science and technology. Additionally, cooperation with industry, research laboratories, and state and local governments are implemented into these public service programs to provide a rich and full experience for the participants.
1.2 CSGC Background
In correspondence with the national program objectives, the students of the Colorado Space
Grant Consortium (CSGC) of the
University of Colorado promote an educational foundation of science, mathematics, and technology to children of elementary through secondary level schools. The public service programs of CSGC have been designate d as “outreaches” since these programs provide an opportunity for students of CSGC to outreach to surrounding schools and share the knowledge, which they have obtained through their education and from CSGC.
One of the many avenues of outreaching to the public is through the Citizen Explorer I satellite. It is the goal of the Citizen Explorer
Program to integrate the excitement of space into the classroom, motivate students to explore math, science and technology, boost education in science and technology by involving students with real and useful measurements of the environment using data from Earthorbiting satellites and ground-based instruments, and produce a global database of the environment through cooperative educational opportunities.
Schools involved with the
Citizen Explorer project become ground stations. The ground stations, using the edu-stations, will
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take satellite readings and relay the data received from the satellite to
CU. The students also take daily UV-
B and aerosol measurements using hand-held instruments. The data gathered by the students will be sent to CU via the web.
The Citizen Explorer I satellite was entirely designed, engineered, built, and tested by students at the
University of Colorado in Boulder.
Citizen Explorer I will study ultraviolet rays and ozone and then send this data directly to the ground stations of participating schools.
Each ground station is included with the necessary equipment to receive packages of data from the satellite, handheld ultraviolet and ozone detectors, and a packet of corresponding educational activities and lessons for the classroom environment. Once CX I is launched, these schools will be able to analyze and compare the satellite’s data with data collected from their handheld instruments. In addition, linked to the CSGC website is a webpage providing public access to the satellite’s information, data, and educational activities.
2.0 Models
Throughout history great psychologists and educators including Plato, Dr. Freud, Dr. Jung, and John Dewey have developed models of how they believe people learn and think and what are the most effective methods of teaching in order to educate the various learning types.
Each individual has different learning patterns, which will be defined for the purpose of this paper as characteristic strengths and preferences in the ways they absorb and process information. Research of this topic shows that not only does each person learn differently, but also that an individual has combinations of learning and thinking styles. Even though an individual will have a combination of styles, he often prefers to use one more often than the others. For example, some students are inclined to focus on facts and data while others respond strongly to visual forms of information, such as pictures and diagrams. Along with the manner in which an individual absorbs the information there are also different ways in which he chooses to process that information.
Some people prefer to learn actively and interactively, while others function more introspectively and individually.
In order to fully appreciate the thought, work, research, and effort used to design the CSGC’s outreach program, it is necessary to provide a description of the various methods of teaching from which the pr ogram’s methods were established.
2.1 Learning Styles
Individuals who learn visually need to see the instructor’s body language and facial expressions to understand the lesson. Therefore these types of students usually position themselves at the front of the classroom in order to avoid any visual obstructions. During a lecture, these types of learners will usually try to visualize the material being presented to aid in the memorization of the information. Moreover this type of student often takes detailed notes to help them fully absorb the information. From an instructional
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viewpoint, these learners find diagrams, transparencies, pictures, handouts, and videos most beneficial to their learning process.
Auditory learners are those who learn best by listening to verbal instructions, discussions, and listening to and talking with others.
Additionally, these learners interpret underlying meanings of what a speaker has said by detecting any verbal nuances such as the tone of the speaker’s voice. Reading material aloud and often the use of a tape recorder are some of the beneficial methods this type of learner may use.
Thirdly, tactile or kinesthetic learners are the type of individuals who learn best by touching and actively exploring their environment.
Due to this physical element of learning, these types of learners often have difficulty remaining still for long periods of time because of their need for activity.
2.2 Learning Models
Several scientists, instructors, and psychologists have taken these three basic learning styles and categorized them into models. Every model has subtle differences making it unique, giving the appearance that each is correct and touches on something a little different than the rest. Drawing from several models, the outreach program’s model was created to incorporate the uniqueness and awareness of each model into its own design. The remainder of this section briefly describes the models used and emphasizes some of their uniqueness.
Around 1950, the motherdaughter team of Myers and Briggs developed an assessment for the individual that could be used to understand the different learning styles and apply Dr. Carl G. Jung’s model to each individual. The
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classifies students according to their preferences of learning styles on scales. While the Myers-Briggs model utilizes the first five types of
Dr. Jung’s model, Katherine
Benzinger, Ph.D., attends to all eight elements of Dr. Jung’s model. This model is classified as being the first, comprehensive application of Dr.
Jung’s work.
The Kolb's Learning Style
Model categorizes individuals by their preference of absorbing and processing information. This model classifies a person into one of the four types Kolb uses. Each of the four applies a concrete or abstract learner with the characteristic of learning actively or reflecting upon information.
Lastly, the Felder-Silverman
Learning Style Model classifies a student in a manner that resembles the combination of the Kolb and
Myers-Briggs model. Each subdivision pairs the three types of learning with whether the learner tends to use concrete or abstract methods.
2.3 Thinking Styles
Along with the Felder-
Silverman and Kolb models, the
Hermann Brain Dominance
Instrument (HBDI) combines an individual’s learning style with that individual’s preferred thinking style.
The HBDI categorizes a person into one of four quadrants of thinking
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styles. Quadrants, similar to the standard two-dimensional mathematical quadrant system, accounts for the fact that an individual thinks with a combination of one, two, or more styles. Each quadrant distinguishes whether the person predominantly uses the left or right side of their brain in his preferred method of thinking.
An awareness and understanding of these various thinking and learning styles is equally as important as realizing that one objective of education should be to help students build their skills in both their preferred and less preferred modes of learning.
Therefore one goal for an instructor is to ensure that the learning needs of students in each model category are met at least part of each subject time.
3.0 Outreach Program
Students of CSGC are aware of the extensive research and work by professionals proving that each person learns in one of or a combination of his sense of sight, sound, and touch. Therefore the outreaches are designed to have visual aids, presented verbally by
Space Grant students, demonstrations of a topic from the presentation, exciting hands-on activities, and handouts for the children.
3.1 Teaching Model
As there are many forms of art, there are also an equal number of methods for teaching as emphasized in the familiar saying that teaching is an art and the true teacher is an artist. An instructor could lecture about the most interesting topic known and yet still not educate his audience if he does not present the material in an equally stimulating manner. Mr. John
Dewey noticed, especially in young children, that the audience associates the subject presented with the mannerisms and personality of the teacher. With this knowledge, an instructor has the power to spark the student’s interest in the subject.
This methodology is extremely profound and important because if a child is not taught new material in such a way that is interesting and engaging that child may miss the opportunity to find his passion in life.
Therefore it is important to always be aware of the fact that everything a teacher does, as well as the manner in which he does it, incites the child to respond in some way and each response tends to set the child's attitude in some way; even the inattention of the child to the adult is often a mode of response.
Expanding upon the manner in which a teacher presents information to a child, the research and findings of John Dewey are highlighted. Dewey defined imagination as “the medium of realizing the absent and significant”.
He emphasizes this statement in a simple observation that the more unfitted a physical object is for its imagined purpose, the greater is the supposed appeal to the imagination.
If a child is given a cube and told it is to represent a boat then he will, often unconsciously, engage in the activity at hand because he must use his mind to imagine that the cube is a boat. This mental skill is extremely important for any profession and is often overlooked in the fields of
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science, math, and engineering.
Education should provide children with not only information but also opportunities to practice mental skills, just as an athlete practices his physical skills.
The art of the outreach teaching model culminates in nurturing these attitudes toward instruction, imagination, work, and play.
3.2 Visual Aids
With the help of today’s technology, awesome visual aids can be created to use as an extremely effective teaching tool.
Colorful and interesting presentations are created using
Microsoft’s PowerPoint program and displayed with a LCD projector.
Along with this media, CSGC students use posters, models, transparency slides, videos, sounds, and actual student projects such as the housing for the 3Corner Satellite program. At an outreach discussing the CX I satellite, students are shown videos of various tests of CX, given a tour of the facilities where design and construction take place, and a chance to view the satellite and its hardware from outside the clean room. By actually showing the students all of the stages and numerous elements involved with building a satellite they are able to relate to what roles an engineer, scientist, and mathematician have in this process. Correspondingly, the children are able to see the outcome of the extensive amount and effort that goes into such a project. Many members of industry and students at
CSGC have been known to take a moment to look at and reflect upon their project. This periodic contemplation serves as a touchstone, refreshing the enthusiasm for working so diligently on the project. If an adult needs these periodic visual touchstones then certainly children do as well.
3.3 Demonstrations
The topic of comets is discussed as part of the cosmology section of CSGC’s outreach repertoire. This presentation teaches children about the history of comets, where they originate from, some of the comets known to humans, and a comet’s anatomy.
After teaching the children this information, students of CSGC build a model of a comet using the same materials that are in a real comet.
The children help in this process by telling the CSGC students which materials should go into the comet and answer engaging questions during the demonstration. Once the comet is completed the students can see many otherwise difficult to visualize items of a comet, such as the outgassing (comet’s tail) of a comet. This demonstration allows students to participate and witness something they would not necessarily be able to do at that age due to safety considerations.
3.3 Activities
The ideal mental condition of a student is obtainable with the correct teaching methods. This ideal mental condition of a student consists of an equal balance between work and play. The terms work and play are often broad and can have several meanings, so they each are defined for their intended use for the purpose of this paper.
The difference between work and play is only the direction of the
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student’s interest. Play is an interest that centers in activity without much reference to its outcome and work is an interest in the outcome of an activity. Mr. Dewey excellently pointed out “mental play is openmindedness, faith in the power of thought to preserve its own integrity without external supports and arbitrary restrictions,” in chapter sixteen of his book How We Think .
By this definition, free mental play involves seriousness and an earnest following of the development of the topic.
Using these ideas and definitions outreach activities were designed to incorporate work and play and thus give the participants the opportunity to achieve the ideal mental condition. An example of such an activity is the Mars Green
Thumb Project. This studentdesigned project discusses the relationship between a greenhouse and its application in space and on
Mars. On Mars humans would need to have a greenhouse-like habitat for plants to grow. The design of the
Mars Green Thumb Project’s
Agricultural Pod (AGPod) is discussed with the students as an example of plant habitat suitable for
Mars. The students learn the details of taking care of the plants and a plant habitat on Mars.
After learning about this project and its design the students are given supplies to make their own
AGPod replica and divided into groups. The students are taken through the process of construction but are only given a suggested method of how to build their AGPod.
However, instead of using the materials that a real AGPod would be constructed with the children are given gumdrops and toothpicks to build their AGPod’s structure. These supplies achieve the same desired results as the previously discussed cube-boat example.
3.4 Handouts
Reinforcing the principle of teaching to all learning styles are outreach handouts, which correspond to the outreach’s activities, demonstrations, and subjects. Therefore at an outreach students are given handouts that are designed to not only help the students remember what they have learned but also keep an interest in science, math, and engineering by making the handout fun. To enhance the CX I presentation students are given an informational sheet about the satellite, mission stickers, and a UV bead key chain.
The beads on the key chains contain a pigment that when exposed to UV rays turn the beads from white to one of the many colors of a rainbow.
The darker and brighter a bead becomes corresponds to the intensity UV rays exposed to the bead. This is not only an entertaining handout but also a great reminder for the child to keep their skin protected from these rays by using the methods discussed at the outreach.
4.0 Results and Analysis
Apart from receiving structured evaluations from participants, another important source of feedback is the response participants give during an outreach.
If the children are participating in activities and engaging others and the presenter then it is assured the
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students are absorbing and processing the desired information.
Another indicator of achieving these two goals is if students ask questions about the material and what to learn more information about the topic.
Many times at the end of an outreach the participants will want to stay longer, learn more, and participate in more activities and demonstrations. These indicators are extremely accurate because if a child is not learning information and is uninterested he will not wish to continue activities about the subject, will not ask questions, and especially will not want to extend the amount of time on the subject.
A more subtle but equally important indication that the outreach effectively educated the participants is if the participants desire to return and learn about other topics at a similar outreach. Many participating schools have established weekly meeting times where new students can attend an outreach or the same ones can attend a different outreach.
Since this new approach and structure of the outreach program at
CSGC, the amount of children participating has dramatically increased. Figure 1 illustrates this increase in participants by comparing the number of outreach participants from past years and this year.
Figure 1 Comparison of the Number of
Outreach Participants for the beginning months in 2001 and 2002.
Information gathered from participant evaluations in conjunction with expanding program exposure will ensure that the number of outreach participants for this year and following years to continue increasing.
5.0 Conclusion
Whether scientifically proven or not, the importance of a wellrounded education can lead to a more fulfilling and rewarding life.
Many scientists, psychologists, and philosophers have spent their lives devoted to determining the best teaching methodology to successfully reach all learning types.
For CSGC’s outreach program the most effective teaching model is one that embraces and stimulates all known learning styles. As economies evolve from a base of industry to technology, an individual’s education of science, math, and engineering will become increasingly important.
Underscoring the value of engaging the imagination and interest of every student possible today.
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6.0 Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the
University of Colorado’s Space Grant
Consortium for giving me the opportunity to open doors for myself and others through the continuing development of the outreach program.
7.0 References http://paradigm.soci.brocku.ca/~lwar d/Dewey/DEWEY_12.
Dewey, John. How We Think .
Chapters 4, 11,12. Mass: D.C.
Heath, (1910): 157-169. http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/u sers/f/felder/public. Felder, Richard
M. MATTERS OF STYLE.
LEARNING STYLES . Department of
Chemical Engineering, North
Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695 —7905. felder@eos.ncsu.edu. http://calspace.ucsd.edu/spacegrant http://spacegrant@colorado.edu/boul der http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles http://wang.ed.csuohio.edu/learning_ center/confucius.dewey.dialogue. A
Dialogue between Confucius and Dr.
John Dewey.
Time: December 7,
1951, Chi-Fu, San-Dong, China. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodg e/Active/ActiveLearning.html http://www.benziger.org/jung. http://www.crlt.umich.edu. http://www.crlt.umich.edu/occ10.
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