Thanks for this adaptation of SeaPhages.  I would like to share with members of my group who are working on Scientist spotlights and data.

I would love to hear more about how you are evaluating impact on students to this kind of work and what toools are available to make sure that students have access to appropriate internet resources?

Welcome to my video on Using Bioinformatics to Introduce Students to Biotech Careers. This project gave us the opportunitiy to work with high school students remotely and provide them with the opportunity to participate in authenitic research remotely. The pairing of community college students as the lead researchers and mentors with high school students provided opportunities for both to developed their scientific reasoning skills and increase their knowledge. Students enjoyed the project and the interactions during the pandemic helped keep students connected. 

Please let me know if you have any questions about our project. 

I love this creative way of helping students feel connected! So important over this last year and cannot be emphasized enough! Great work Sharon!

Sharon, thank you for sharing your project - watching your presentation made me realize that connecting undergrads as mentors for high school students is a terrific way to develop leadership and project ownership! I am part of the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) where we are also using genomics to bring research to undergraduate students, but working with eukaryotic genes (if your students experienced with phages want to move into eukaryotic genes - we got projects for them and we are actively recruiting CC faculty/student teams). Over the pandemic/transition to virtual research, we/GEP also came to realize the value of peer-mentoring by hiring experienced students as virtual TAs to lead/teach new students (so CC students may be acting as virtual TAs for undergrads nationwide).  After watching your video, I want try to expand our local connections to high schools! I wonder if the college student's mentoring HS student research team can also help increase the pool of undergrads considering STEM teaching careers! Did any of your students express an interest in teaching HS science after their experience?  

So cool. Love the ideas of connecting undergrads and high school students...there are so many advantages for UG mentors .

One of the things that is imprtant is to prepare them to mentor others especially if the schools are more diverse than the UG.  Have you developed ways to prepare the UGs for this?  I have had some projects that used resources from Entering Mentoring and Entering Research to help.

I echo everyone else's comments in congratulating you on this novel and important approach of having undergraduates work with high school students. There are clear benefits for both groups of students. I'm wondering whether and how you might involve high school teachers in this kind of work? For example, I could envision a three-way partnership involving an undergraduate from your college, a high school student, and that high school student's science teacher. Another possible arrangement is something similar to NSF's Research Experiences for Teachers initiative (Research Experiences for Teachers Sites in Biological Sciences (BIORETS) (nsf21584) | NSF - National Science Foundation) where CC faculty, their undergraduate students, and teachers (and perhaps the teacher's students?) might work together on an authentic research project such as the one described in the video. Given that this project was done primarily online, it could be particularly amenable to teachers who may be looking for a research experience but who may not be able to devote time in an in-person experience.

Thanks again for posting!

Hi Sharon

I had some grants for Research Experiences for Teachers in the past.  I think these programs are exceptionally valuable especially i one pairs UG in the same experience!

Go for it!

Great way to connect high school and college students with a real research project. What kind of training prepared the college students for working with and mentoring high school students? Also, do you plan on continuing the project virtually even when in person learning is allowed?

Thanks!  Judy

Sorry for the delay in getting back into this discussion. Engaging teachers to become part of policy- and decision-making in education is, to me, a critical component of teacher leadership ranging from a teacher's classroom to the entire school, school district, and for some, at the state and national levels. As a point of information, TERC, the organizer of this STEM For all Video Showcase, also has another project supported by the NSF called the STEM Teacher Leadership Network. In the 18 months of its existence, it has amassed an impressive array of monthly webinars, blogs, and other resources related to teacher leadership. It's worth checking out if you are a K-12 STEM teacher at any stage of your career or someone who works with or learn from STEM teachers. I'm proud to serve on the Network's advisory board.