ABC's for Interacting with High School Students

Just last year I began to get involved with a really neat outreach event for high school girls. It's been going on for 25 years now, is very popular (over 300 students and teachers are able to come, though the interest is much more ... unfortunately our capacity gets maxed out), and is run by a group of extraordinary volunteers who have fine-tuned the program over the years to maximum benefit. In one very busy day the girls participate in career panels, poster sessions, a career fair, keynote speakers and lunch with scientists and professionals. And that's not to mention the separate program put together for the teachers that runs simultaneously.

I'm a newbie to this program compared to the others involved so I 'm still trying to learn the ropes and also find the ways that I can best help out, but thus far I've been involved in a subcommittee for the lab tours. According to feedback from the girls, the lab visits we arrange can be the highlight of their day, so I'm so pleased to be involved in this part of the picture. For one hour during the day the girls are divided into smaller groups and taken to visit one or more of the many different labs we have on site. There they get a chance to interact with a scientist, see where they work, and perhaps learn a little bit about what they do and what it's really like to work in science day to day.

I'm rather proud of my latest contribution to the project. Recently our committee reviewed feedback from last year's participants and saw that while the response to the tours were very positive, it would seem that some of the girls were a bit overwhelmed by all the information. I suggested that maybe it's not been enough in the past to advise our scientist tour guides to speak at the right level and to keep things visually interesting and engaging. Perhaps it would help to be a little more specific. After all, scientists are not really trained to teach high school kids science.

So I came up with this guide, called the ABC's of a Great Lab Tour. Not that I'm an expert in this -- I hope to keep working toward that, that's what this blog is all about after all! Instead I consulted my own personal experts: my teacher friends. I emailed them and asked "What advice would you give to a scientist or other professional coming into your classroom to talk about what they do? How would you advise them not to talk over their heads and keep them engaged?" My awesome friends and sister -- you know who you are -- supplied me with great advice, which I was able to summarize into a one-page handout. (I knew from my expertise working with scientists that I wouldn't get their attention for very long from their busy schedules, so I tried to make it short and sweet).



I borrowed the "ABC" idea from another handout that I'd seen before and thought very effective. It's nice to have some kind of acronym to get things to stick in people's heads. And it worked well for what I wanted to communicate, because my ABC's are: Age-Appropriate, Biographical, and Conversational. It follows below. Feel free to use it for your own purposes, though I'd really appreciate a note letting me know where you used it, and perhaps a reference to this blog on anything you might distribute.

Our event is about a month away, and after that I expect to edit it based on feedback from our tour guides and the girls responses to the tours. And if anyone out there has any suggestions for next time, please let me know!

The ABC’s of a GREAT Lab Tour

for High School Students

Want to not talk over their heads?

A is for Age-Appropriate

• Avoid jargon and unfamiliar words (test – would you ever see that word in your local newspaper?)
• If you must use an unfamiliar word, make a point to define it, write it down on a board or on a piece of paper to hold up.
• Since science is taught in different progressions in different schools, some of the girls may not have had a basic course yet in your subject area. Feel free to ask them.
• Expect that they are completely unfamiliar with your area, and if it turns out they are, still keeping it simple will build their confidence.
• If possible relate your research to things in their teenage world. For example, electromagnetic waves relating to cell phone signals.

Want to get the girls envisioning themselves in a science career like yours?

B is for Biographical

• Tell the girls about yourself.
• What classes and activities did you enjoy growing up? How did you get started on your career path?
• What do you like/dislike about your job?
• Tell them what it’s like to be a scientist, not just about your special area.
• Encourage their questions in this area.

Want to keep the girls engaged?

C is for Conversational

•  Teenagers like to talk! Use this to your advantage.
• Take a few moments in the beginning to ask the girls questions about themselves and establish a quick friendship. Later you can bring up things that they’re interested in as a part of your tour (maybe you’ll find the girls assigned to your tour think they are more interested in chemistry and you’re in physics. You could tell them how your area relates, or even, why you think your area is more fun!)
• Try “inquiry-based learning” Rather than straight lecturing, lead the girls through what you want to talk about through guided questions. Get them thinking, not just listening.
• In the best case scenario, you’d be limiting any “lecturing” to less than 10 minutes at a time, and interspersing it with questions, chatting, a demo, a short video, showing off your lab, office, or equipment, some kind of activity, or whatever neat things you have come up with.