ScienceQuest: A South Carolina Geoscience Initiative

在过去的十年里，地球科学专业的少数族裔入学率从7%下降到2%。这种减少在很大程度上与少数民族学生在高中之前很少或很少接触地球科学以及缺乏地球科学榜样有关。南卡罗来纳州的K-12科学能力得分是全国最低的。因此，南卡罗莱纳是一个极好的试验场，旨在增加K-12阶段的地球科学多样性和曝光率。该计划的目标是通过一个名为ScienceQuest （SQ）的课外项目，让少数民族学生参与到地球科学中来，并激发他们的兴趣。南卡罗来纳大学理科研究生（团队领导）与三到五名六年级高危学生（学生很有可能在学业上失败，和/或辍学）一起探索与地球科学相关的主题。每支队伍每周在位于里奇兰第一区的市中心学校Hand中学会面，为期10-12周。SQ项目的高潮是开发一个在线网站（http://www.geol.sc.edu/cbnelson/ScienceWeb/index.htm）。自2002年启动以来，已有40多名硕士、博士研究生和70多名中学生参加。该奖项的主要目标是继续SQ课后项目，并将其扩展到其他内城中学的六年级学生。该项目将提高少数族裔学生的科学考试成绩，并增加高中开设和学习的更严格的（地球）科学课程的数量。次要目标包括让研究生参与外展活动，开展涉及研究生自己研究的实践活动，增加合格科学教师的数量（通过决定成为K-12教师的研究生），以及在中学教室中增加地球科学活动和设备的使用。

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.