Journal of Science Policy & Governance
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • JSPG Anniversary Page
    • Staff
    • Ambassadors
    • Boards >
      • Advisory Board
      • Governing Board
      • Editorial Board
    • Careers >
      • Associate Editor
      • Ambassador
    • Partners
    • Sponsorships
    • Contact
  • Volumes
    • Volume 22 Issue 01
    • GHFUTURES2030 Strengthening Youth-centered Policy and Governance of Digital Transformations in Health.
    • UNESCO AND MGCY OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES AS AN ACCELERATOR FOR ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • Volume 21 Issue 01 >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 21, Issue 1, Summer Standard Issue
    • JSPG and UCL STEAPP Special Topics: Innovations in Science Diplomacy >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 20, Issue 3, Special Issue on Innovations in Science Diplomacy
    • Sigma XI-JSPG Special Issue: Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century
    • Volume 20 Issue 01
    • JSPG Volume 19 Issue 01 (10 Years of Publishing)
    • Special Issue: 2021 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Special Issue: Shaping the Future of Science Policy
    • JSPG-UK SIN Special Issue: Climate Change Solutions
    • Volume 18 Issue 01
    • Special Issue: 2020 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Volume 17 Issue 01 (Supported by AAAS STPF)
    • JSPG-UN MGCY Special Issue: Impacts of Emerging Technologies
    • Volume 16 Issue 01
    • Volume 15 (Supported by CSPC)
    • Special Issue: 2019 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Volume 14
    • Volume 13
    • Volume 12
    • Volume 11
    • Volume 10
    • Volume 9
    • Volume 8
    • Volume 7
    • Volume 6
    • JSPG-UCS Special Issue: Healthy Food Policy
    • Volume 5
    • Volume 4
    • Special Issue: Hot Topics 2013
    • Volume 3
    • Volume 2
    • Volume 1
  • Submit to JSPG
    • Special Topics Call for Submissions: Policy and Governance on Science, Technology and Global Security
    • Submission deadlines and guidelines
  • Announcements
    • News
    • Blog
  • Events
    • JSPG, APS FPS Events
    • Leadership chat series
  • Training
    • Writing
    • Resources
  • Media Mentions
  • Policy in action
  • Podcast

The Federal Science Project: A Scientist in Every Classroom

​Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels
Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 03 | August 30, 2021

Policy Position Paper: The Federal Science Project: A Scientist in Every Classroom

Vetri Velan (1)*, Rachel Woods-Robinson (2)*, Elizabeth Case (3)†, Isabel Warner (4)†, Andrea Poppiti (5), Brian Abramowitz (6)
  1. University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics, Berkeley, California
  2. University of California, Berkeley, Applied Science and Technology Graduate Group, Berkeley, California
  3. Columbia University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New York City, New York
  4. University of Queensland, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  5. Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education, New Brunswick, New Jersey
  6. University of Florida, College of Education, Gainesville, Florida
*,† Indicates equal contributions

Corresponding author: vvelan@berkeley.edu, rwoodsrobinson@berkeley.edu
Download PDF
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180308
Keywords: K12 education; outreach; STEM

Executive Summary: The United States urgently needs science-based solutions for a multitude of policy issues, and a basic societal understanding of science is essential to gaining public trust and addressing these issues. However, there is a disconnect between professional scientists and engineers and K-12 science education. Many students will graduate after 13 years of school having never met a scientist. This missed opportunity is not an issue of supply. There are over 7 million practicing scientists and engineers in the U.S.; if every scientist spent just one hour a year in a classroom, each student would get at least three visits from a scientist every single year. Here, we propose the Federal Science Project: a federally funded, nationwide program to bring scientists into all K-12 schools across the U.S. with the goal of reaching every student, regardless of geographic location. Scientists and engineers across disciplines and sectors would undergo training in communication skills and cultural competency, connect with classrooms via a national database with support from full-time staff, partner with teachers to deliver interactive lessons aligned with existing curriculum and standards, and receive appropriate compensation. Close partnerships between scientists, engineers, teachers, policymakers, and community partners in science education (science centers, museums, etc.) would invigorate the trust-based connections needed for 21st-century science education and policy transformations. 

-Read the full article through download.-

Download PDF

References

  1. Bindas, Kenneth J. All of This Music Belongs to the Nation: The WPA's Federal Music Project and American Society. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2003.
  2. Bush, Vannevar. "Science, The Endless Frontier." Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, United States Government Printing Office, Washington (1945). https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm
  3. Bustamante, Jaleesa. “K-12 School Enrollment & Student Population Statistics.” EducationData.org. (2019). https://educationdata.org/k12-enrollment-statistics
  4. Cerrato, Simona, Valentina Daelli, Helena Pertot, and Olga Puccioni. "The public-engaged scientists: Motivations, enablers and barriers." Research for All 2, no. 2 (2018): 313-322. https://doi.org/10.18546/RFA.02.2.09
  5.  Coe, Imogen R., Ryan Wiley, and Linda-Gail Bekker "Organisational best practices towards gender equality in science and medicine." The Lancet 393, no. 10171 (2019): 587-593. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)33188-X
  6. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). “STEM Professionals in Schools.” (2021). https://www.csiro.au/en/education/programs/stem-professionals-in-schools
  7. Community Resources for Science (CRS). “Bay Area Scientists Inspiring Students (BASIS).” (2020). https://crscience.org/outreach/basis/
  8. Dawson, Emily. "Reimagining publics and (non) participation: Exploring exclusion from science communication through the experiences of low-income, minority ethnic groups." Public Understanding of Science 27, no. 7 (2018): 772-786. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662517750072
  9. DeWitt, Jennifer, Jonathan Osborne, Louise Archer, Justin Dillon, Beatrice Willis, and Billy Wong. “Young Children's Aspirations in Science: The unequivocal, the uncertain and the unthinkable.” International Journal of Science Education, 35:6, 1037-1063 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2011.608197
  10. Ecklund, Elaine W., Sarah A. James, and Anne E. Lincoln. "How Academic Biologists and Physicists View Science Outreach." PLOS One 7(5): e36240 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036240
  11. Ferguson, Sarah L., and Stephanie M. Lezotte. "Exploring the state of science stereotypes: Systematic review and meta‐analysis of the Draw‐A‐Scientist Checklist." School Science and Mathematics 120, no. 1 (2020): 55-65.  https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12382
  12. Fleming, Whitney, Adam L. Hayes, Katherine M. Crosman, and Ann Bostrom. "Indiscriminate, Irrelevant, and Sometimes Wrong: Causal Misconceptions about Climate Change." Risk Analysis 41, no. 1 (2021): 157-178. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13587
  13. Funk, Cary, Alec Tyson, Brian Kennedy, and Courtney Johnson. "Science and scientists held in high esteem across global publics." Pew Research Center. (2020). https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/29/science-and-scientists-held-in-high-esteem-across-global-publics/
  14. Funk, Cary and Kim Parker. “Diversity in the STEM workforce varies widely across jobs.” Pew Research Center. (2018). https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/diversity-in-the-stem-workforce-varies-widely-across-jobs/
  15. Hmielowski, Jay D., Lauren Feldman, Teresa A. Myers, Anthony Leiserowitz, and Edward Maibach. "An attack on science? Media use, trust in scientists, and perceptions of global warming." Public Understanding of Science 23, no. 7 (2014): 866-883. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513480091
  16. Hobson, Art. "The surprising effectiveness of college scientific literacy courses." The Physics Teacher 46, no. 7 (2008): 404-406. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2981285
  17. Hourihan, Matt. “A Primer on Federal R&D Budget Trends.” American Association for the Advancement of Science. (2021) https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/AAAS%20R%26D%20Primer%20Update%202021.pdf
  18. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). “IRS issues standard mileage rates for 2021.” (2020). https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-standard-mileage-rates-for-2021
  19. Johnson, David R., Elaine Howard Ecklund, and Anne E. Lincoln. "Narratives of science outreach in elite contexts of academic science." Science Communication 36, no. 1 (2014): 81-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547013499142
  20. Joint Economic Committee (JEC), U.S. Congress. “STEM Education: Preparing for the Jobs of the Future.” (2012). https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2012/4/jec-releases-new-report-on-economic-impact-of-stem-education
  21. Laursen, Sandra, Carrie Liston, Heather Thiry, and Julie Graf. "What good is a scientist in the classroom? Participant outcomes and program design features for a short-duration science outreach intervention in K–12 classrooms." CBE—Life Sciences Education 6, no. 1 (2007): 49-64. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.06-05-0165 
  22. Long, Gary L., Carol A. Bailey, Barbara B. Bunn, Carla Slebodnick, Michael R. Johnson, Shad Derozier, Susanne M. Dana, and Julie R. Grady. "Chemistry Outreach Project to High Schools Using a Mobile Chemistry Laboratory, ChemKits, and Teacher Workshops." Journal of Chemical Education 89, no. 10 (2012): 1249-1258.  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed200185e
  23. Loucks-Horsley, Susan, Katherine E. Stiles, Susan Mundry, Nancy Love, and Peter W. Hewson. Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Corwin press. (2009).
  24. McCaffrey, Mark and Joshua Rosenau. 2012. “Science Literacy Still Matters.” Nature Climate Change 2, 636 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1644
  25. Mervis, Jeffrey. "Grad students head to class as new NSF teaching fellows." Science 286, 5441 (1999): 895-895.
  26. Miller, David I., Kyle M. Nolla, Alice H. Eagly, and David H. Uttal. "The development of children's gender‐science stereotypes: a meta‐analysis of 5 decades of US draw‐a‐scientist studies." Child development 89, no. 6 (2018): 1943-1955. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13039
  27. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Schools and Staffing Survey. “Public School Teacher Data File, 2011–12.” (2012). https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_007.asp
  28. National Center for Science Education (NCSE). “Breaking Down Barriers.” (2020). https://ncse.ngo/breaking-down-barriers
  29. National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius. Supreme Court of the United States, 567 U.S. 519. (2012).
  30. Nelson, Amy G. and Scott Van Cleave. “Energy Connections: Teacher Survey Report. St. Paul, MN.” Science Museum of Minnesota’s Department of Evaluation and Research in Learning. (2009).
  31. O’Boyle, Sean. “How activists make science communication better.” Silicone Republic. (2019). https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/science-communication-diversity-activism
  32. Rammapudi, Thatayamodimo Sparks. "The impact of museum outreach education programs in Botswana." Visitor Studies Today 9, no. 2 (2006): 20-28.
  33. Research!America. “81 Percent of Americans Can’t Name a Single Living Scientist.” (2018). https://www.researchamerica.org/news-events/81-percent-americans-can%E2%80%99t-name-single-living-scientist
  34. Riegle-Crumb, Catherine, Barbara King, and Yasmiyn Irizarry. "Does STEM stand out? Examining racial/ethnic gaps in persistence across postsecondary fields." Educational Researcher 48, no. 3 (2019): 133-144. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19831006
  35. Sargent, John F. “The U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Recent, Current, and Projected Employment, Wages, and Unemployment.” U.S. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service, R43061 (2017). https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43061.pdf
  36. Scott, Heather C. “Inquiry, Efficacy, and Science Education.” Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 57 (2013). https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/57
  37. SunPower. “SunPower Horizons Solar Education Program.” (2021). https://us.sunpower.com/horizons
  38. Thomas, Courtney L. "Assessing high school student learning on science outreach lab activities." Journal of Chemical Education 89, no. 10 (2012): 1259-1263. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed200320g
  39. Ufnar, Jennifer A., Susan Kuner, and Virginia L. Shepherd. "Moving beyond GK–12." CBE—Life Sciences Education 11, no. 3 (2012): 239-247. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.11-12-0119  
  40. Ufnar, Jennifer A., and Virginia L. Shepherd. "The Magic in The Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in The Classroom Partnership Program." Journal of STEM Outreach 3.3 (2020): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v3i3.06
  41. United States Census. “2018 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data.” (2018). https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2018/econ/school-finances/secondary-education-finance.html
  42. University of Florida: Thompson Earth Sciences Institute. “Scientist in Every Florida School.” (2021). https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/scientist-in-every-florida-school/
  43. Woolston, Chris. “University tenure decisions still gloss over scientists’ public outreach.” Nature News. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06906-z

Vetri Velan is a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on detecting particles of dark matter, a mysterious substance making up 85% of the matter in the universe.
 
Rachel Woods-Robinson is a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley researching new materials for solar cells. Alongside Elizabeth Case she co-founded Cycle for Science, an adventure-based science outreach organization.
 
Elizabeth Case is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University studying how glaciers form and flow, and a Scientist-in-Parks fellow at Grand Teton National Park. Along with Rachel Woods-Robinson, she co-founded Cycle for Science, a program that translates research into hands-on lessons for K-12 classrooms.
 
Isabel Warner is a Ph.D. candidate in microbiology at the University of Queensland. She studies bacterial genomes to find new targets for novel antimicrobials.
 
Andrea Poppiti is a middle school science teacher and an Ed.D. student at Rutgers University. She is interested in teachers' perceptions of and experiences implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.
 
Brian Abramowitz is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida’s College of Education. He studies the efficacy of partnerships between Earth systems scientists and K-12 teachers.
 
Acknowledgments
We sincerely thank Teresa Barnett, Tyler Chuck, and Eric Lee for providing valuable feedback based on their expertise in science policy, science education, and science outreach. We would also like to thank our editors for their comments, which greatly improved the manuscript.

DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

ISSN 2372-2193
Picture
© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications and events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • JSPG Anniversary Page
    • Staff
    • Ambassadors
    • Boards >
      • Advisory Board
      • Governing Board
      • Editorial Board
    • Careers >
      • Associate Editor
      • Ambassador
    • Partners
    • Sponsorships
    • Contact
  • Volumes
    • Volume 22 Issue 01
    • GHFUTURES2030 Strengthening Youth-centered Policy and Governance of Digital Transformations in Health.
    • UNESCO AND MGCY OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES AS AN ACCELERATOR FOR ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • Volume 21 Issue 01 >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 21, Issue 1, Summer Standard Issue
    • JSPG and UCL STEAPP Special Topics: Innovations in Science Diplomacy >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 20, Issue 3, Special Issue on Innovations in Science Diplomacy
    • Sigma XI-JSPG Special Issue: Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century
    • Volume 20 Issue 01
    • JSPG Volume 19 Issue 01 (10 Years of Publishing)
    • Special Issue: 2021 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Special Issue: Shaping the Future of Science Policy
    • JSPG-UK SIN Special Issue: Climate Change Solutions
    • Volume 18 Issue 01
    • Special Issue: 2020 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Volume 17 Issue 01 (Supported by AAAS STPF)
    • JSPG-UN MGCY Special Issue: Impacts of Emerging Technologies
    • Volume 16 Issue 01
    • Volume 15 (Supported by CSPC)
    • Special Issue: 2019 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Volume 14
    • Volume 13
    • Volume 12
    • Volume 11
    • Volume 10
    • Volume 9
    • Volume 8
    • Volume 7
    • Volume 6
    • JSPG-UCS Special Issue: Healthy Food Policy
    • Volume 5
    • Volume 4
    • Special Issue: Hot Topics 2013
    • Volume 3
    • Volume 2
    • Volume 1
  • Submit to JSPG
    • Special Topics Call for Submissions: Policy and Governance on Science, Technology and Global Security
    • Submission deadlines and guidelines
  • Announcements
    • News
    • Blog
  • Events
    • JSPG, APS FPS Events
    • Leadership chat series
  • Training
    • Writing
    • Resources
  • Media Mentions
  • Policy in action
  • Podcast