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Skype A Scientist Overview
Skype A Scientist Overview
Skype A Scientist is a unique opportunity for students to connect with an "in the field" scientist in order to learn more about their career and how it relates to content materials. The program is a free service and you simply fill out a form telling them a little about your classroom demographics, the type of scientist that fits your content area, and a few other pertinent details. Sessions can be anywhere from thirty minutes to the entire length of a class and is in a conversation format instead of a lecture from the scientist. This opportunity exposes my students to people that share similar demographics and can open doors for them into the world of careers in biotechnology. In this instance the scientist is a chemist which corresponds to our current lesson and will allow my students to gain new perspective into how a subject that can be very abstract has meaning in the real world to someone that grew up in similar circumstances. We will be allowed to make several calls to keep correspondence with the matched scientist so as my students grow in the unit, they will have a resource in the field to continue to gain insight into the world of chemistry beyond middle school.
These images show what the process looks like for teachers to sign up for Skype calls. You are asked about your schools demographics to ensure the availability of a scientist that reflects those demographics if desired. They survey also asks about any desired languages, what content areas you are studying, your grade level, contact information, and the number of classes you would like to Skype.
Signing up for the Call
Signing up for the Call
In order to sign up for a call you must fill out a survey to give the program directors a general overview of what you hope to gain by speaking with a scientist. Once you have been matched with a scientist you will establish communication with that scientist to help set expectations, determine the best call times, and connect with them before they meet your class.
These are examples of some of the student generated questions for our call. We started with a large pool of questions and students worked to narrow them down to the ones they felt were the most pertinent and relevant to our content. I did not want to have the final say in what would be asked so I gave students a lot of control over question selection.
Preparing students for the Call
Preparing students for the Call
Skype A Scientist informs educators that the call should not be a lecture for your students so that they are able to embrace the overall experience. In order to prepare my students we used a class period to explore the program and generate our questions that would be asked to the scientist. Students were asked to work in groups of three to come up with 10 questions they would have for an actual scientist. Next students narrowed those questions down to their seven most relevant. Once the questions were narrowed down, they swapped papers with their neighbors who were asked to place a star next to their top three questions from the list of seven. Finally we shared out every groups remaining questions and voted as a class about which ones we wanted to use and how they could be expanded or reworded to be the most beneficial during the call.
These are some of the images taken during the call between students and the scientist. They took turns speaking and asking their questions as well as sharing a little bit about our classroom.
Skyping A Scientist (literally)
Skyping A Scientist (literally)
Once students had created a set list of questions for our call it was time to setup the Skype appointment and allow them to interact with someone from a similar demographic in the science field. When I initially setup the call and responded about our schools demographics I was curious to see if we would be matched with someone the genuinely reflected my students, which we were. Our scientist was Latin American/Hispanic, low income household (when growing up), spoke Spanish, and was studying enzymes and proteins at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I think that my students were surprised to se someone that was so relatable in a field that they had considered out of touch. It was a great experience for myself and my students to hear Gerardos story and how he connected with our content. This access opportunity connected them with a scientist that was accessible and made a career in science more interesting and seem more attainable to people that come from communities like their own. This was such a great call to watch and participate with because I could see my students building a genuine connection with our speaker as the conversation progressed.
5E0F0709-C4A6-430F-AEAD-CA9677B32234 2020-04-12 at 9.11.25 PM.pdfAfter the call students filled out the survey to get their feelings about the call. I wanted to know if the found the conversation interesting, some of their favorite parts of the call, and what else they would like to hear about from a scientist. This is the document that students filled out after the call.
Student Reflection
Student Reflection
An important component of this assignment was making sure that my students understood how the call was important to their career access within science. I wanted to determine some of their highlights from the speaker as well as how the call impacted their views of science. For many of my students this is the first time they were able to speak with an actual scientist in this field of study and I wanted to use the data collected from their reflection for further lesson planning. This reflection allowed me to see how my students made their own connections to our content and if they found the overall experience meaningful to our learning. It also enabled me to see how much of an impact this access opportunity had on the overall perceptions. This was a great way for my students to see why the study of science is so important, potential career paths that can have within the field, and to gain access to a person that can help to open doors for them that would not otherwise be a possibility.
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