ScienceQuest: A South Carolina Geoscience Initiative

ScienceQuest：南卡罗来纳州地球科学计划

• 批准号: 0543954
• 负责人: Claudia Benitez-Nelson
• 金额: $ 15.36万
• 依托单位: University South Carolina Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-03-01 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0543954&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ScienceQuest; South; Carolina; Geoscience; Initiative

Minority enrollment in the geosciences has plummeted from 7 to 2 % over the past decade. Much of this decrease can be related to little or poor exposure of minority students to geosciences prior to high school and a lack of geoscience role models. South Carolina has some of the lowest K-12 science competency scores in the Nation. Thus, South Carolina is an excellent testing ground for programs that seek to increase geoscience diversity and exposure at the K-12 level. The goal of the program is to expose, excite and increase minority student participation in the geosciences using an afterschool program called ScienceQuest (SQ). University of South Carolina graduate students in science (team leaders) work with three to five 6 th grade at-risk students (have a high probability that a student will fail academically, and/or drop out of school) in exploring a geoscience-related topic. Teams meet each week over a period of 10-12 weeks at Hand Middle School, an inner city school located in Richland District 1. SQ projects culminate in the development of an on-line website http://www.geol.sc.edu/cbnelson/ScienceWeb/index.htm). Since the inception of the program in 2002, over 40 Masters and Doctoral graduate students and 70 middle school children have participated. The major goal of the award is to continue the SQ after-school program and to expand it to include more 6 th grade students in other inner city middle schools. The program will increase minority student science test scores and the number of more rigorous (geo)science courses both offered and taken in high school. Secondary goals include exposure of graduate students to outreach activities, the development of hands on activities involving graduate students' own research, increasing the number of qualified science Teachers (via graduate students who decide to become K-12 teachers), and increasing the use of geoscience activities and equipment in Middle School classrooms.

在过去的十年里，地球科学专业的少数民族入学人数从7%骤降至2%。这一下降在很大程度上可能与少数族裔学生在高中前接触地球科学的机会很少或接触得很少，以及缺乏地球科学榜样有关。南卡罗来纳州的K-12科学能力得分在全国名列前茅。因此，南卡罗来纳州是寻求增加K-12级别的地球科学多样性和曝光率的项目的极好试验场。该计划的目标是通过一个名为Science Quest(SQ)的课外计划，揭露、激发和增加少数族裔学生对地球科学的参与。南卡罗来纳大学理科研究生(组长)与3至5名6年级高危学生(学生很有可能学业不及格和/或辍学)一起探索与地球科学相关的主题。团队每周在汉德中学开会，为期10-12周，这是一所位于里奇兰第一区的市中心学校。SQ项目最终开发了一个在线网站http://www.geol.sc.edu/cbnelson/ScienceWeb/index.htm).该项目自2002年启动以来，已有40多名硕士、博士研究生和70名中学生参加。该奖项的主要目标是继续SQ课后计划，并将其扩大到包括更多市中心其他中学的六年级学生。该计划将提高少数民族学生的科学考试成绩，并增加高中期间开设和学习的更严格的(地理)科学课程的数量。次级目标包括让研究生参加外联活动，开展涉及研究生自己研究的实践活动，增加合格的科学教师人数(通过决定成为K-12教师的研究生)，以及增加在中学课堂上使用地球科学活动和设备。