MPWG: The Oceanography Camp for Girls

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9554493 Coble The Oceanography Camp for Girls (OCG) was developed jointly by the University of South Florida's Department of Marine Science (USF DMS) and the Pinellas County School System to encourage career interest in the sciences for young women posed to enter high school. Oceanography was chosen because of its inherent interdisciplinary nature, requiring a familiarity with the four "hard" sciences--biology, chemistry, geology and physics, as well as a foundation in mathematics. As such, the camp reflects the areas of study in which women are most often underrepresented, and allows young women to use the knowledge gained from hands-on activities and to apply it to a tangible marine environment in their own "backyard." This environmental "bridging" is accomplished via cruises aboard a research vessel for data collection, field trips, and in-depth, practical laboratory explorations. The uniqueness of this educational program derives its focus, not only from real-world environmental studies and awareness, but also from one-on-one mentoring of middle school girls by women who are already established in scientific fields. This project would significantly expand and refine the camp experience. Annually, the OCG has reached only 30 young women residing in Pinellas County. The target population beyond Pinellas County allows a new population of young women residing within a six county radius to benefit from this experience. Additional components of the expansion and refinement of this program include: 1) modification of the program format to accommodate a residential component, increase interactions between student role models and camp participants; 2) addressing the numerous leaks along the education pipeline to directly improve access and retention of women in the sciences; 3) providing teacher training to enhance science education at secondary levels; 4) increasing collaborative efforts between public and private research facilities statewide; and 5) serving as a m odel program for others, offering training materials to pilot similar programs regionally. The demonstration of the provision of services to female students includes: a summer science program, use of technology in instruction, technical assistance, development of a curriculum addressing needs and interests of female students, improvement of individualized instruction in the classroom, collaborations between secondary schools, university and governmental organizations, and dissemination of information gathered over both short-term and long-term review processes. The target population for this program is young women who have successfully completed seventh grade. This is a critical time when girls experience a loss of self-confidence and need positive encouragement in their pursuits of math and science. The rationale is that the camp experience will motivate participants to select more math and science courses and seriously consider the sciences as a career option. ***