YOU KAN: a graduate student perspective on K-12 Outreach in KS

Authors

Nicole Green, Kansas State UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

9-24-2016

Document Type

Article

Citation

Presented at SciComm 2016, Lincoln, Nebraska, September 24, 2016.

Comments

Copyright © 2016 Nicole Green

Abstract

Science gets interesting at interfaces.

K-12 Outreach in Kansas:
NSF GK-12 EIDROP Fellow (2014-2015) #0841414 Partnership with USD 475 ‘Resident Scientist’, AP Biology
EXCITE! Summer Workshop Series (2015, 2016) KAWSE Office ‘Drosophi-what? Using Fruit Flies as a Biological Model Organism’, 9th-12th grades
4-H SPecial INterest (SPIN) Fall 2015-Spring 2016 After school programming with USD 383, 2nd-5thgrades
Camp R.O.A.R. (Real Observation ARoundUs), Lincoln Elementary School, K-5th grades, funded by ASCB COMPASS Outreach grant

Engaging in outreach is a unique graduate training experience. Successful outreach programs meet students where they are.

If you walk into the classroom with good intentions and a plan, you will succeed.

Interweave a message or set of themes into your outreach curriculum.
(Stop.) Collaborate and listen.
Maximize your influence through a mix of sustained and short-term partnerships.

Don’t tell them. Don’t just show them. Let them DO. Construct the illusion of spontaneity. Be cautiously adventurous. Connect with your audience through familiar and accessible mediums. Don’t work harder. Work smarter.

You can become the resident ‘OUTREACH EXPERT’. DO NOT OVERCOMMIT. BE STRATEGIC IN YOUR OUTREACH. GRADUATION IS ALWAYS PRIORITY #1