SCIENCE CAFES BRING CUTTING EDGE SCIENCE TO STUDENTS

Graduate students at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering participate in Junior Science Cafes virtually with middle school students from Bret Harte Elementary School in Hyde Park. Photo courtesy of University of Chicago
Graduate students at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering participate in Junior Science Cafes virtually with middle school students from Bret Harte Elementary School in Hyde Park. Photo courtesy of University of Chicago

 Science cafes bring cutting edge science to students

BY TIA CAROL JONES
     Middle school-aged students at Bret Harte Elementary School have been participating in a program where graduate students from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have been teaching them about science.
     The program trains graduate students to be effective communicators of their work and according to Laura Rico-Beck, educational training and outreach coordinator at PME, the program has been a part of training for graduate students at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering for about six years.
     “We understood that a big priority for effective scientists and engineers as they go out into the world, whatever career path they choose, is to be able to effective[ly] convey what work they’re doing, and how they’re doing it and why it’s relevant to everybody,” she said.
    Rico-Beck said the program was promoted by Juan De Pablo, chemical engineer and professor at Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, and it grew into a partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry. The goal was to develop a science communication program, with the capstone of the program being Junior Science Cafes, which used to happen at the Museum of Science of Industry. The program moved to a model where graduate students went into middle school classrooms in neighborhood schools.
    “We noticed, pretty early on, even though we’re five blocks from Bret Harte, we didn’t have a connection there,” Rico-Beck said.
Rico-Beck added the principal of Bret Harte, Charles Bright, put her in contact with a middle school science teacher who was excited and “ready to think of creative ways to bring really engaging, cutting edge science to his students,” she said.
     Rico-Beck said while the intention was for the graduate students to be in the classroom with the middle school students to participate in hands-on projects, they couldn’t because of the pandemic, but they have been able to convert it into virtual Junior Science Cafés. She said it was a really interesting challenge because the heart of science is the hands-on engagement.
    Rico-Beck said the program worked with the Neighborhood School Programs, as well as the Office of Civic Engagement to identify best practices to get students excited and engaged in virtual experiments.
From there, the program trained the graduate students on how to execute those experiments in a virtual format. “It was a delight to actually see these graduate students dive into that new challenge themselves as well,” she said. “They are super busy, with research and with their own work and their own classwork, but they took the time to develop these strategies. I think the payoff was huge both for the partnership, but also for themselves, to realize what they can do as educators and communicators of their work.”
     Rico-Beck said every year in the program, the graduate students work so hard. They put together the learning experience themselves. She said even more this year, the graduate students hearing the middle school students’ excitement and the questions is good for them.
    “I think a big part is that a lot of our graduate students and I think a lot of scientists forget that initial excitement about the world of science and once they can be the people that bring the excitement and engagement into the classroom, they see it in these students and they remember how excited [they were] and why they got into science in the first place,” she said.
     PME hosted its last Junior Science Café on the last week of October for the students at Bret Harte. “Our hope is to expand our reach as much as possible. We’re just really purposeful as far as who our target audience is,” Rico-Beck said. “We want to focus primarily on middle school students, primarily on the South side and the University neighborhood and primarily in Chicago Public School[s]. So, with that criteria, you can see why Harte is a really good partner.”

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