Faculty & Staff Participation
Faculty and Staff Participation in outreach activities can take many different forms, depending on the interest and time commitment desired. Involvement ranges from presentations of interactive activities at community events, to supervision of high school students in a research lab, to directing a children's summer camp. Assistance is also available with funding for outreach events, and proposing or executing activities for the broader impact section of grant proposals. Please email our Outreach Contact and let us know how you would like to be involved!
Organizations:
Eberly College of Science (ECoS) Outreach Office
The ECoS Outreach Office is located on the second floor of Ritenour Building, and is dedicated to any activity that brings the work, experience, knowledge, information, and ideas of the university out into the community, the nation, or the world. Outreach staff can facilitate Faculty and student engagement with community audiences and partners in both formal and informal settings. Sometimes these activities are specifically created and carried out to meet the broader impacts, or education and outreach requirements that many funding agencies require as part of research proposals. Assistance is available for the writing of grant proposals, or for implementing the proposed outreach projects. For more information, visit the ECoS Outreach website, or contact Director Barbara Houtz at beh179@psu.edu.
Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS)
The Center for Science and The Schools (CSATS) is a unique Penn State organization whose purpose is to develop and support mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships between K-12 schools and Penn State science and engineering. It is housed in the College of Education, and is staffed by science education faculty and graduate students. CSATS provides expertise in K-12 science education design, best practices in professional development, and knowledge of school district education needs. Assistance is provided with writing K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education grants or education components of science research grants, networking opportunities, annotated online science education literature databases, and information on national and state STEM standards. For more information visit the CSATS website, or contact the staff at csats@psu.edu.
Penn State STEM Interest Group
This self-assembled group consists of faculty and staff from many colleges and departments at Penn State, and welcomes the involvement of anyone interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education. The group holds sponsored speaker presentations, special interest discussions, and STEM workshops. For more information contact Julia Kregenow at jmk50@psu.edu.
Upcoming Events:
- American Wizard Demo Competition 2011
Thursday, April 14, 5:30 PM, 119 Osmond
The PSU Chemical Education Interest Group presents the 5th Annual “American Wizard” competition! Entertainment and education for all ages. Audience members listen to comments on the presentations by our panel of experts, then vote for their favorite contestant to help them win a fabulous prize! Email our Outreach Contact for more information.
- Science Exploration Day, Bryce Jordan Center Concourse
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 10 AM - 3 PM
Exploration Day is a celebration of the spirit and opportunity of Science at Penn State. This interactive science event brings together many families and members of the Penn State community. Faculty and staff participants can create and present interactive chemistry and science activities designed for children and their families.
- Interactions with K-12 School Students and Teachers
Schools all over Centre County contact the ECoS Outreach Office looking for education opportunities, including field trips to the University Park Campus, chemical demonstration shows, interactive lab activities, tours of campus facilities, teacher professional development workshops, and invitations for a scientist to do a presentation at their schools. Would you like to be involved? These activities can be part of the "broader impact" section of a research grant. Upcoming opportunities include:
DNA Day at Bald Eagle Area High School - Friday, April 15, 2011
Bald Eagle Area visit to Chemistry Department and Breazeale Reactor - Monday, April 25, 2011
Science Day at Howard Elementary School-Friday, April 29, 2011
Nittany Valley Charter School visit to campus - Friday, May 6, 2011
State College Area Middle School Solar Car Races on campus - May 20, 2011
Central Mountain Middle School in Mill Hall - tentatively May 18, 2011
St. John the Evangelist School in Bellefonte - Friday, May 27, 2011
- Science U Summer Science Camps for children
As a PhD-level faculty member, you can design and run a Science - U summer camp for students entering grades 2-12 as a Camp Director and/or a Curriculum Developer. Visit the Science U website or email Science U Director Michael Zeman at mjz120@psu.edu for more information.
- Summer Experience in the Eberly College of Science (SEECOS)/Upward Bound
June 2010
Director Dr. Jackie Bortiatynski will be working with underprivileged high school students and faculty and graduate student mentors to provide a summer research and educational experience. Contact Dr. Bortiatynski at jackie@chem.psu.edu for more information.
- Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)
Several research groups have SROP students participating in their laboratories.
Past Events:
- NCS Haunted Lab Tour 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010, 6:00 PM, 119 Osmond
The Nittany Chemical Society student group sponsors a fantastic Halloween Demo Show along with a Haunted Lab Tour of Whitmore Building in partnership with chemistry faculty and staff. This year's show is "Superhero Science", and is being run in concert with an afternoon Halloween BOOt camp presented by Science U Staff and volunteers. Contact Outreach Fellow Lori Van Der Sluys at lsv10@psu.edu for information about faculty or staff involvement in the Haunted Lab Tour, or NCS president Stephanie Baima at sjb5234@psu.edu for information about student involvement in the demo show, or check out the NCS website.
- American Wizard Competition
Friday, April 16, 2010, 6 - 8 PM
Faculty and staff mentors were recruited for our American Wizard Demonstration competition. This competition is sponsored by the Nittany Chemical Society undergraduate chemistry club as a way for students to pair with a faculty mentor to design and present a chemistry demonstration. Demonstrations receive scores in the areas of appropriateness, safety, portability, clear explanation of the chemistry involved, showmanship, and overall impression. The show is often presented in conjunction with Chemistry Education Colloquium and the invited speaker; we coordinate undergraduate student meetings and dinners with the speaker, a campus tour and a creamery trip. In 2010 we will had an emeritus panel of judges, including Dr. Robert Minard, Dr. John Lowe, Dr. Peter Jurs and Dr. Roy Olofson. After pairing with a student contestant, mentors meet with the student to decide on a demo presentation, discuss the science concepts and safety of the project, practice the presentation, and attend the dress rehearsal and the actual competition.
- Science Exploration Day, Bryce Jordan Center
Saturday, April 17, 2010, 10 AM - 3 PM
Exploration Day
is a celebration of the spirit and opportunity and Science at Penn
State. This interactive science event brings together many families and
members of the Penn State community. Faculty and staff participants
can create and present interactive chemistry and science activities
designed for children and their families.
- Science Technology Engineering and Math Fair, Park Forest Middle School
Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 11 AM – 3 PM
The staff at Park Forest Middle School in State College asked for “Engaging activities, literature, discussion on teaching and working in the STEM fields, especially woman and minority representatives”; faculty and student participants created interactive presentations to recruit students for STEM career paths.
