ShowMe Nature GK-12: It works because great minds don’t think alike

Fellows integrate research and education

Mechanisms of sustainability

Fellows bring their research into the classroom through interactive broadcasts in real time. This program is slated for statewide expansion through a proposed collaboration with university partners in St. Louis and Springfield.

Professional development of graduate fellows

Nicole Miller-Struttmann, Anna Waldron & Candace Galen

Examples: GK-12 Fellow, Jeffrey Dale on leading 5th grade students at Lee Elementary in writing their mini-grant proposal, Protecting the environment, one rain barrel at a time (Fig. 2A and B) states, “I have learned the importance of setting goals, timelines, and deadlines in the completion of team-driven tasks” and “I have increased my ability to ‘facilitate’ information without directly providing [it].”

Another GK-12 Fellow, Lianne Hibbert, reflects on leading 5th grade students at Fairview Elementary in the creation of their mini-grant, Fairview Forecasters, “This was a worthwhile effort for me as a communicator…working with children you have to really make a concerted effort for clarity, continuity, and simplicity. All of those things are needed in grant writing at any level.”

Figure 6. Graduate students during a Science Safari day delight fourth and fifth graders with live snakes, frogs, and katydids (6A). Students learn about amphibians including rare Missouri salamanders (6B). Scientists work with students to diagnose wetland health using bio-indicators (6C).

Figure 4. Stephanie Schuttler (4A), a Conservation Biology graduate student, engages students in her PhD research on the social structure of African forest elephants. Stephanie’s students measure “bolus” size of elephants to estimate age (4B) and use DNA to sex elephants (4C) .

Fellows develop communication, administrative and collaborative skills by engaging students in writing research proposals and implementing funded projects through our Mini-Grant program.

Informal Science EducationWe use safari days at MU to build relationships between non-GK-12 graduate students interested in science outreach and K-12 students (Fig. 6).

GK-12 pedagogical research

To measure the impact of Fellows’ GK-12 experiences on STEM in higher education more broadly, our team is also conducting research on how participation in GK-12 affects graduate student pedagogy at the college level. Fellows integrate current research tools into their teaching of undergraduate students more often than their non-fellow peers (Fig. 7).

Fellows engage students in their research through Science Safari Research Days at MU, curriculum integration, and Mini-Grant development.

Commitment from corporate and governmental partners to support student research through our mini-grant program will have an enduring legacy.(2A

)(2B)

(4B)

Figure 2. (A) Students listen as an expert from The City of Columbia’s Stormwater Management program advises them on rain barrel installation (diagrammed in B). (C) Chad King, a Fish and Wildlife graduate student, teaching students how the global positioning system works and how to use it.

Mini-grants

In our first cohort of Graduate Fellows, most perceive strong benefits of guiding the development and implementation of a research proposal in the classroom (Fig. 1). Fellows cited new research opportunities and enhanced administrative abilities as the primary professional rewards.Benefits Perceived by Fellows

administrativeresearchnot clear yet

Virtual research expeditions

GK-12 Fellow Research Description Educational IntegrationClayton Coffman

Impacts of plant chemical defense on insect behavior

The chemistry of smellPlant life history

Jeffery Dale Communication between nerve and muscle cells

Scientific method: Animal modelsDisease transmission

Logan Decker Functional disruption via gene silencing in fungi

Scientific method: DNA extractionDiversity of life and classification

Jeremy Gibson

Evolution of vibrational communication in tree hoppers

The physics of soundFood webs: Species interactions

Lianne Hibbert

Human dimensions of conservation in Saint Lucia

Experimental designSimple machines

Chad King Ecological implications of historical fire regimes

Ecosystems and energy flowNutrient cycles

Stephanie Schuttler

Social structure and migration of African forest elephants

Scientific method: Genetic analysisAdaptations

Sarah Zukoff The ecology of the western root worm: Implications for agriculture

Diversity of life: InsectsPlant and animal classification

Graduate fellows enhance learning of core science curricula by integrating their research with educational goals. Overlap between science content and graduate research is challenging in some realms (Fig. 3). Despite this, fellows address a broad range of scientific disciplines through activities that incorporate curriculum goals with their research (Table 1.)

Table 1. Specific topics in science that fellows addressed by engaging students in their research at Science Safari Days and in the classroom

Overal

l scien

ce sk

ills

Scien

tific inquiry

Scien

tific unders

tanding

Experi

mental

design

divseri

ty of li

fe

Ecosys

tems

adap

tation

Simple

machines

elemen

t cyc

les

mixtures

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1Integration of research into the curriculum

Prop

ortio

n of

fello

ws

Overall s

cience

skills

Scientific i

nquiry

Scientific u

nderstanding

Experim

ental desig

n

Diversi

ty of li

fe

Ecosys

tems

Adaptation

Simple m

achines

Nutrient c

ycles

Mixtures

(6A) (6B) (6C)

Figure 1. GK-12 Fellow perceptions of their professional development as a result of conducting a mini-grant with their elementary students.

(4A) (4C)

FELLOW PEER

12

34

5

Freq

uen

cy o

f te

ach

ing

w

ith

rese

arc

h t

ools

Figure 7. Frequency that GK-12 fellows and their non-fellow peers use research tools when teaching undergraduates.

Figure 3. Proportion of GK-12 Fellows’ graduate research that overlaps with national and state-level science curricula.

Figure 5. (A) Alex Lobzhanidze, GK-12 computer engineer, assists Nicole Miller-Struttmann, post-doctoral researcher, in broadcasting her research on insect ecology (B).

(5A) (5B)

(2C)