Abstract/Summary:
In recent years, ideas about how best to accomplish science education have increasingly focused on including hands-on science and engineering (S&E) practices. Science and engineering fairs (SEFs) provide an ideal means for students to experience for themselves the S&E practices described by Next Generation Science Standards. We estimate that 250,000 U.S. high school students or more participate in SEFs every year.

About seven years ago, we began a systematic investigation of high school student SEF experiences utilizing anonymous and voluntary surveys including quantitative and qualitative (open-ended text) questions carried out with regional and national groups of high school students and post high school students. The goal of our research has been to establish a base of knowledge regarding student experiences to identify potential best practices leading to more effective, inclusive, and equitable SEF learning opportunities, and hence, thereby enhancing successful student participation and outcomes. Since 2017, more than 3,000 high school students signing up for SEFs through the national Scienteer online SEF management portal (utilized by seven states) have completed surveys about their SEF experiences. Dr. Grinnell will discuss important and key published findings and new directions of this research.

Bio:

Fred Grinnell is the Robert McLemore Professor of Medical Science in the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Grinnell founded and was the first director of the UT Southwestern Ethics in Science and Medicine Program and continues to organize the North Texas Bioethics Network. For much of his career, his research focused on the cell biology of tissue organization and wound repair. His more recent research has focused on science education, especially student experiences in high school science and engineering fairs. He has written two books about the nature of scientific inquiry -- The Scientific Attitude (2nd Edition, Guilford Press, 1992) and Everyday Practice of Science: Where Intuition and Passion Meet Objectivity and Logic (Oxford University Press, 2009). Dr. Grinnell is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Section on History and Philosophy of Science.