"LABRats"

 

Linking Empiricism with Virtue to

Remake Science Education in America

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shawn Carlson, Ph.D.

Founder and Executive Director

 

Heather Smith

Director of Program Development, LABRats

heather@sas.org

401-823-7800

www.sas.org/labrats

 

 

 

 

Need for the Project

 

America is in trouble. We are failing to educate the next generation in science, technology and mathematics and the consequences are dire. In fact, America is loosing ground all over the technological landscape, and has already lost its lead in some areas.

 

 

 

 

 

Since this is a national problem, the program that will solve it must itself be national in scope. To get more minorities into science, it must meet the needs of the diverse cultures that make up America, especially those in urban areas. To get more young people into college, the program must target teenagers because it is during the teenage years that young people make the most important decisions about their futures. To inculcate the scientific habits of mind and deliver a broad technical education, the program must challenge young minds year-round and do so for many consecutive years. To avoid the political and bureaucratic malaise that cripples our schools and stymies their efforts to produce scientifically literate adults, the program cannot be part of the system of public education. That means that the program must mobilize a community's other educational resources, including science and technology centers, businesses and private citizens who understand the importance of this fight and who have the passion and knowledge to help win it. What's more, to safeguard its credibility, the program must be run by a non-profit organization that is focused entirely on meeting the educational needs of America's young people. And if we are to have confidence that it can really work, then it must be modeled on the work of other national organizations that have already proven their ability to reach millions of young people in this age group.

Introducing LABRats

 

LABRats is a new national educational program that could achieve all of these goals. The program is patterned after successful elements of scouting organizations, and indeed one can think of it as scouting for young people who like science. LABRats will provide a value-based education, one that emphasizes the virtues necessary for success in science and in life. Honesty, integrity, tolerance and a commitment to serve others will be taught in every part of the program.

In addition to the teaching of these "great virtues" of science and success in life, LABRats will include a merit-based system of advancement, much like the ranking system in scouting. But unlike the Boy Scouts, LABRats will be open to absolutely everyone, regardless of race, social-economic status, religious belief (or non-belief) or sexual orientation. What's more, LABRats won't have silly-looking uniforms or other trappings of militarism that often make kids the objects of ridicule and keep many from joining scouting altogether.

Instead of a defensive motto like "Be Prepared", the LABRats motto will be, "Do the experiment!"  "Do the experiment!" is empowering. It will teach the next generation that they can take charge of their own learning and discover the truth for themselves so long as they are willing to put their ideas to the test. 

LABRats will use community-based mentors to teach young people how to do science themselves to actually make their own discoveries.

LABRats will include a "college bound" program that will help its participants select and apply to colleges, obtain financial aid, and secure letters of recommendation from LABRats mentors who know them. And by keeping its academic standards high, America's great universities will be able to turn to LABRats when they want to find inner city youngsters with the talent and the drive to excel in world-class scholastics. LABRats could finally be the program that blends the complexion of the technical professions into something that is more representative of the complexion of America herself.

To make sure the program appeals to young people from all of America's communities, it will be developed by a team that is as diverse as America. To quote Dr. Bruce Jackson, an African American educator at Boston University School of Medicine and one of the most respected experts on moving urban young people into careers in science, "LABRats offers a new paradigm for increasing STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] participation among currently underrepresented communities, and I am honored to be working with you."

The concept is revolutionary in science education: a program that focuses the talents of adults who love science (both professional and citizen scientists) into a powerful vehicle to train the next generation of American scientists and technologists by creating a national network of community-based highly-structured science clubs. LABRats will engage young men and women for up to seven full years - enough time to shape their character and habits of mind. This will be achieved through weekly meetings, monthly field trips, challenging research projects and community involvement. LABRats will build relationships between community centers such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and regional science and technology centers. These relationships will enhance the ability of each to deliver an exciting new program and prepare its participants to live productive and rewarding lives as adults.

The LABRats Team

 

LABRats will be built through collaboration. A national office, housed at the Society for Amateur Scientists (SAS) in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, will support a paid staff, known as the LABRats Regional Coordinators. They will be located in science-technology centers and related institutions around the country, which we call LABRats Regional Centers. These professional managers will receive training and will oversee all activities necessary to ensure that LABRats groups run successfully in their region. While LABRats groups may meet at their Regional Center, most will meet at other community-based organizations since these may be more accessible to a broader audience, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA/YWCA, and 4-H Clubs. Parents will be urged to contribute to their children's LABRats organization whenever possible, and they will play a major role in its implementation. Parental committees will coordinate the logistics necessary to run a successful program. Each local group will be led by two to four adult volunteer leaders, again, usually parents of the participants, who will run the weekly meetings. The LABRats Regional Coordinator will recruit STEM experts from the surrounding communities to serve as a pool of volunteer mentors for all the LABRats groups in their region.

The LABRats team consists of nationally regarded experts and institutions that collectively have the expertise and experience to make LABRats a reality.  Brief descriptions are listed below.

 

Major Partner Organizations

 

 

 

Advisory Committees

Р     Earnestine Baker, Executive Director, Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, University of Maryland, Baltimore County - will share experience with their undergraduate program that increases minority participation in STEM.

Р     Richard Hudson, Ph.D., Executive Producer, Dragonfly TV, Twin Cities Public Television - will share experience with STEM educational programming and production.

Р     Steve Jacobs, Director, Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge; Chair, NSTA Committee on Informal Science; Apprentice to Mr. Wizard - will share a variety of formal and informal STEM education experiences, including television production and fundraising.

Р     Eddie Locklear, Ph.D., Director of After-School, National 4-H Council, Chevy Chase, MD - will share experience with 4-H youth programming in rural and suburban areas.

Р     Dale McCreedy, Ph.D., Director, Gender and Family Learning, Franklin Institute - will share girls' and women's science learning as well as informal science education expertise.

Р     Claudia Morrell, Director, Center for Women & Information Technology, UMBC - will share experience with undergraduate and secondary school programs to interest girls in technology.

Р     Carl Pennypacker, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Hands-On Universe - will share experience with Hands-On Universe and informal science education.

Р     Laura Watkins, Ph.D., Executive Director, Patriot's Trail Girl Scouts Council - will share experience with the Girl Scouts organization and programming for girls.

 

Р     Cary Sneider, Ph.D., Committee Chair, VP Educator Programs, Museum of Science, Boston - will share formal and informal science education expertise, including program development.

Р     Ingrid Daubechies, Ph.D., MacArthur Fellow and Professor, Princeton University, Department of Mathematics and Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics - will share extensive mathematics education expertise.

Р     Paul Hickman, Director of CESAME, Assoc. Professor of Education Northeastern University - will share teaching, curriculum implementation and professional development expertise.

Р     Pamela Pelletier, Science Assessment Specialist, Boston Public Schools - will share mentor and research-based curriculum development and implementation expertise.

Р     Philip Sadler, Ph.D., Director, Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics - will share science learning tool development and assessment expertise.

Р     Judah Schwartz, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Education and Research Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Tufts University - will share science and mathematics content and education and assessment expertise, especially the use of technology in education.

Р     Carol Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston - will share experience with cognitive development and science education.

Р     Robert Tinker, Ph.D. President, Concord Consortium - will share experience in the constructivist use of educational technology.

Р     Christos Zahopoulos, Ph.D., Director, SEED and RE-SEED, Northeastern University - will share curriculum development and volunteer recruitment and training expertise; will oversee development of the mentor training program as well.

 

Contractors

¤       Web site and online community - IDEA will develop and produce the web designs. Michael Douma, Executive Director, will lead the team, and Nugzar Kachukhashvili will be responsible for building the databases. Mr. Douma has been technical lead on public service projects funded by the NSF, Dept. of Education, Veterans Administration, Navy, NIST, and the NIH.

 

¤       College-bound program - Regina Thomas, Founder, College Coaching Pros. Ms. Thomas has over 15 years of experience in college coaching. She will lead development efforts of the college-bound and career-path curriculum.

 

Other Organizational Partners

¤       Regional Center Consortium - To provide a broad range of perspectives, all the institutions listed below will participate in program development and play additional roles as described. Additional Regional Centers will be added in Year 4 of program development.

Р     Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT - contacts are Stephen Coan, Ph.D., EVP for Operations, and Kimberly Standish, Assoc. Director of Education. Regional Center during all phases of development; will host and coordinate delivery of LABRats for Years 2 through 4.

Р     Discovery Museum and Planetarium, Bridgeport, CT - contacts are Linda Malkin, Acting Director, and David Mestre, Scheduling Coordinator and Customer Relations. Regional Center during all phases of development; will host or coordinate delivery of LABRats for Years 2 through 4.

Р     New England Aquarium, Boston, MA - contact is Geri Unger, Director of Education. Expansion site in Year 4; will host or coordinate delivery of LABRats for two groups.

Р     SEE Science Center, Manchester, NH - contact is Douglas Heuser, Co-Founder and Executive Director. Candidate expansion site in Year 4.

Р     California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA - contact is Carol Tang, Ph.D., Chair, Educational Programs. Candidate expansion site in Year 4.

 

¤       Participant Panel - Mystic Aquarium and Discovery Museum will develop a panel of high-school aged participants to provide input during program development.

 

¤       Roots and RIMES Projects - exemplary ongoing research projects used for education and increasing minority participation in STEM; contact is Bruce Jackson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Boston University Medical School. We will establish links between LABRats and the ROOTS and RIMES projects to help facilitate the transition from high school to higher education. Dr. Jackson will share his expertise on increasing minority participation in STEM.

 

¤       Community-Based Organizations - Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland-Lincoln, RI - contact is Rachel Kowalski. Rachel will provide Boys and Club perspective during development and participate in testing of materials. Additional organizations to be added in regional center locations.

 

 

Development Timeline

 

The paragraphs below outline a four-year plan to develop a LABRats model that can be readily replicated across the country. We have applied to the National Science Foundation, and we are conducting an individual, corporate, and foundation fundraising campaign to generate the funds for this development work.  We realize that creating the national LABRats program, with its social network and large infrastructure, will take several years beyond this period. However, with a detailed plan to develop the best possible educational program and a well-tested sustainable design in the first four years, LABRats will be poised to become a nation-wide program that develops many thousands of scientists and technologists for generations to come. 

 

Year 1 - Program Development and Testing

We will develop and test enough program materials and recruit and train adult mentors and leaders to begin running pilot programs.  Phase 1 formative evaluation will inform development efforts. In our front-end evaluation, we received mixed feedback on the name LABRats, which is a working title for this program. We will explore alternative names with the target audience during this year as well. Key milestones include a kick-off meeting with all partners in month 1, hiring two Regional Coordinators by month 6, recruiting and training mentors beginning in month 9, and recruiting participants and adult leaders beginning in month 11. We will have quarterly tests of program materials and follow-up conference calls with advisors, organizational partners and contractors.

      

Years 2 and 3 - Pilot Programs, Testing, Refinement

We will run pilot programs from two regional centers, Mystic Aquarium and Discovery Museum and Planetarium, simultaneously to learn how best to grow the program into new communities. In Year 2, two groups of 20 participants each will meet at each Regional Center. In Year 3, the original groups will continue and each Regional Center will add two additional groups that will meet at community-based organizations, for a total of eight groups. Formative evaluation will inform program revisions. Key milestones include quarterly data collection and follow-up conference calls, quarterly training sessions for adult volunteers, and recruitment of community-based organizations in Years 2 and 3.

 

Year 4 - Initial Expansion

During this phase, we will add four to six Regional Centers in key locations across the country. We will target larger, well-known members of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) to position us for a national rollout. Summative evaluation will assess program success. Key milestones are similar to Years 2 and 3.

 

Transition to Self-Sustainability

Ultimately, LABRats needs to become self-sustaining. We will base our business plan on methods perfected by scouting organizations. The fact that these non-profit groups have been self-sustaining for nearly a century proves that programs that teach values and involve teenagers in enriching education can garner enough support to stay in business. Support for scouting comes from member dues, sales of program materials, and continuous fundraising on the local, regional and national levels to solicit private, corporate and foundation donors. (Indigent families will not have to pay dues in LABRats.) We will follow scouting's lead closely. With very little effort on our part, the LABRats concept has already attracted $400,000 from individuals, which proves that this program appeals to private donors. We will also explore creative fundraising ideas, such as TV interstitials (one minute TV spots distributed free and used to fill unsold TV time) combined with traveling science shows. These have tremendous potential. First, it would be a wonderful recruitment tool. It would provide free national advertising and allow potential recruits to meet the program's outgoing and energetic representatives in person. What's more, LABRats team member Steve Jacobs, Chair of Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, reports that corporate sponsorships, entrance fees and product sales consistently generate six figure revenues for the weekend science-show events he has carried out. One event per year in a region could potentially provide all of the support needed for the Regional Center in that area. Both Steve Jacobs and Richard Hudson will advise these efforts.

Considering the promise of LABRats and the remarkable team that we have assembled, we are confident that innovative approaches like this, together with the trail blazed by scouting, will lead to the support we will need to keep this program going indefinitely.