APS FEd Summer 2006 Newsletter -- Elizabeth Stage, Engaging Faculty Scientists in K-12 Education Collaborations

2001 Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman has attracted considerable attention in recent months by leaving the University of Colorado, where he has been for more than twenty years, to go to the University of British Columbia to focus on improving undergraduate physics education. In May, he visited Berkeley and his lecture, "Using the tools of science to teach science," brought an overflow crowd to the lecture hall; faculty and students were asking themselves, "How could a person with Wieman's research accomplishments walk away from physics research and devote the rest of his professional career to physics education?"

The main point of the lecture was that education can and should be improved by applying scientific methods-using evidence instead of anecdote, testing ideas with experimental trials, refining ideas systematically-and Wieman reported research from his group as informed by others in the physics education and broader cognitive science community. From my perspective as a science educator who has met more than a handful of scientists who think that their scientific accomplishments allow them to ignore the data in science education, this was a refreshing point of view.

As part of the visit, Wieman visited the Lawrence Hall of Science. The "Hall" is a public science center and organized research unit; our mission is to inspire and foster learning of science and mathematics for all. We incorporate research about teaching and learning in our development of exhibits, programs for the public and teachers, and instructional materials that are used widely across the United States and increasingly internationally. Hall staff work very hard to involve scientists in our work for a variety of reasons; involving faculty helps us to improve the quality of everything that we do, particularly to fulfill our goal of giving visitors a window onto the campus research and to provide a service to the campus. Sometimes we benefit economically from being written into a proposal; sometimes we use our core resources to make the collaboration possible.

Our most obvious examples of UC Berkeley faculty involvement are our exhibits; for example, Ian Carmichael, a geologist, conceived Forces that Shape the Bay, our outdoor exhibit that helps to explain our breathtaking view. Recently, Lisa Pruitt held the final exam for Mechanical Engineering 117, Structural Aspects of Biomaterials, on our exhibit floor by her having students explain the engineering behind hip replacements, heart valves, and dental implants. In our professional development institutes for teachers, it is not uncommon for faculty to give lectures on their areas of expertise; less common, but particularly valued, is mathematician Hung-Hsi Wu, who co-teaches with a teacher leader for a full month's session. Less obviously, but as important in improving quality, scientists like General Atomics' Larry Woolf review drafts of our curriculum materials for their scientific accuracy before they are sent to publication.

Carl Wieman asked the Hall staff how we go about recruiting scientists for this work. Since he is focused on being systematic in the improvement of science education, he was clearly surprised by our answer, "One by each." Scientists are singular in their focus, have very definite and well-honed opinions; while there are some generalizations that we can share, the first is to form partnerships with individuals rather than looking for a formula. Since we ran out of time to elaborate, this essay could be viewed as a follow-up note to Professor Wieman and an open letter to other physicists who are interested in thinking about ways to involve colleagues in K-12 education work. As luck would have it, the Berkeley Outreach Roundtable met a few days later and that discussion of faculty involvement in outreach enhanced my thinking.

For most faculty, the starting point for their involvement in K-12 activities is altruism, doing the right thing, particularly when it comes to equity and diversity goals, or evangelism, sharing their enthusiasm for the discipline and wanting others to share in the excitement. Many scientists like to spread the word to the public about the work that they do and how important it is. NASA was the first federal science-funding agency that realized that the survival of their public support depended on public understanding of the results of their missions; they have set aside a percentage of the budget for every scientific mission for Education and Public Outreach (EPO).

The National Science Foundation has also figured out that public support for research will diminish if only one hundred people can appreciate the results of the research that they fund; Criterion 2, "Broader Impact," is a placeholder for the idea that more than those 100 people need to appreciate the results of the research. By putting their time and funding into existing mechanisms, such as the Center for Science Education at Berkeley's Space Sciences Institute for EPO, or activities at the Hall or the Graduate School of Education in the case of Broader Impact, researchers can contribute to a larger enterprise, rather than doing some small thing on their own.

A different starting point may be the opportunity to share their intellectual assets at the same time as they are strengthening their research base, such as the Museum Informatics Project, where Berkeley's Natural History Museums are collaborating on a database that will enhance their research and other scholars', their teaching and other instructors', and have the intentional byproduct of making their collections available to the general public, with a special emphasis on teachers. The National Digital Library is a larger and more comprehensive example of a shared resource that benefits scholars and teachers.

Closely related to altruism and evangelism is intellectual engagement. One has to take advantage of any initial window of interest to get faculty to see how challenging education is, perhaps even more challenging than their discipline. K-12 work can give them an opportunity to try out their ideas about curriculum, teaching, and learning in a place that is more open, perhaps, than their own department. Berkeley's charter school, Cal Prep, is a place where faculty from a range of disciplines have become involved because it provides a test bed for innovation. Collaborations with the Hall provide another venue on campus that provides access to schools, teachers, and the public. Work in K-12 provides faculty with an opportunity to fulfill a service requirement, whether imposed by funding agency or encouraged by promotion criteria. It used to be said that you shouldn't ask a faculty member to work in outreach activities until he or she had attained the level of full professor, as such work would be considered negatively in promotion decisions. After years of debate, in July 2005, the UC Academic Personnel Manual added the following paragraph:

The University of California is committed to excellence and equity in every facet of its mission. Teaching, research, professional and public service contributions that promote diversity and equal opportunity are to be encouraged and given recognition in the evaluation of the candidateҳ qualifications. These contributions to diversity and equal opportunity can take a variety of forms, including efforts to advance equitable access to education, public service that addresses the needs of Californiaҳ diverse population, or research in a scholarҳ area of expertise that highlights inequalities.

Contributions to equity and diversity were added to each of the promotional criteria--research, teaching, and service--including examples of activities that count as evidence. It is too soon to see if this explicit recognition is taken seriously by review committees, but it is certainly a step in the right direction, and should at least reduce the negative weighting assumed to have been applied in the past. (The section is available online at www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/apm/sec2-pdf.html .)

At some point, however, altruism runs out of steam, grants have been obtained, and promotions have been achieved; thereҳ research to be done! For work in outreach to be sustainable, more compelling and systemic rewards have to be provided. One tangible reward is money for the faculty member, such as stipends, honoraria, or summer months. (You should investigate the rules for additional compensation for faculty within your institution before you make an offer that you cannot fulfill.) And, increasingly one needs to be careful to be accountable for money that is paid directly to faculty, to be able to say what it's paying for.

More important than money, per se, is money that gives faculty members support for their research and their graduate students. Course release, for example, can give faculty members time and can sometimes be bought out at a reduced, replacement cost, making that a win-win. Relieving a graduate student from being a teaching assistant for an introductory course for the sixth semester in a row is not only doing the faculty member a favor, it's providing the student with an opportunity to consider teaching and learning at a different age level and motivation. Money that allows the faculty member and his or her graduate students to attend and present at educational conferences will not usually be in the lab's budget, but can be considered a valued opportunity.

Hopefully this article has provoked you to think about getting involved in K-12 education (it's both challenging and rewarding) or recruiting others to work with you. We are still learning at the Hall and I would welcome your comments or suggestions. You can learn more about the Lawrence Hall of Science at www.lawrencehallofscience.org and you can reach me at stage@berkeley.edu .

Families enjoying the Forces that Shape the Bay outdoor exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science