A Brief History of INSPIRE
INSPIRE, founded in Fall of 2002,
is a
program designed to bridge the gap between the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School
System.
Our mission is as follows:
- To develop a model that improves science education in
primary and secondary school systems through service learning.
- To inspire younger generations to pursue science by sharing
cutting edge developments in science.
- To perform community service.
- To encourage undergraduate students to become primary and
secondary school teachers.
- To help provide a
diversified curriculum for students.
Mission Statement
"Tell me and I
forget,
teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
-Native
American
Saying
INSPIRE’s main
aim is to dramatically improve science education in the state of North
Carolina.
The project is designed to partner undergraduate students with science
teachers
in the community. The goal is for University students to share their
enthusiasm
for science with elementary, middle, and high schools students. This
will be
accomplished through student placements in schools where they can serve
as
assistants in teaching science. This service-learning project can play
a
valuable role in helping science programs by providing resources,
assistance,
and enthusiastic support. University students benefit by having
opportunities to
share their knowledge, mentor younger students, and give back to the
educational
community. In addition to providing a resource to the community, it is
our hope
that this program will also encourage pre-college students to consider
careers
in science as well as science teaching.
It is important to
note that the
program really wants undergraduate to engage students in the community
into
science with hands-on learning. This differs greatly from many other
tutoring
programs, as we want our undergraduates to participate in the
classrooms during
the school day, and influence students by teaching them concepts that
undergraduates are exposed to everyday in a rich university
environment.
These are the
main goals of INSPIRE:
-
To inspire younger generations to pursue science
by displaying the power of science. Students
can gain an understanding of the scientific process outside the sterile
confines of a textbook.
-
To encourage
undergraduate students to go into the community. The university
is a resource-rich environment, filled with students looking for
practical applications of their knowledge. With few resources, the
community is unable to address and solve its problems. The combination
of these two elements produces an outcome that is win-win for both
sides.
-
To help provide a diversified curriculum for
undergraduates and younger students.
Community Need
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"The
system is failing, not the student" proclaimed Dr. Schmidt
in a speech advising science educators in North Carolina after North
Carolina
participated in the 2003 Third International Mathematics and
Science
Study (TIMSS). The test was given to 4th, 8th,
and 12th
grade students and its purpose was to see where students around the
world
compared to each other in the areas of mathematics and science.
American
students, North Carolinians in particular, performed extremely poorly
on these
exams in comparison to others. In three lectures given by Dr. Schmidt
to North
Carolina teachers, he said, “Our current curriculum is also highly
repetitive…students should have access to new science.” This statement
underlies the need for an exciting and necessary twist to the
curriculum that
can intrigue students with cutting edge science.
As reported by
the National Center
for Education Statistics, more than 75% of North Carolina students in
grades
four and eight have partially mastered or less than partially mastered
the prerequisite
knowledge and skills in science that are fundamental for proficient
work at each
grade. The following is a graphic detailing the test results:
Achievement Levels for Science, North Carolina
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Grade 4
2000
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Grade 8
1996
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2000
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In
addition to this, North Carolina does not include a science portion on
their end
of grade test used to evaluate both elementary and middle school
students
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History
INSPIRE
was a successful initiative in Fall 2002 as undergraduates arrived in
classrooms
around the Triangle, and worked to improve science education. From the
preliminary analysis of the teacher comments and undergraduate
comments, the
students of INSPIRE worked with students and brought many new
ideas into
the classroom including classes on DNA and many other scientific
phenomena. We
encouraged students to go into the classrooms with their ideas of
science and
creatively show it to the students.
The
initial interest for the program was phenomenal. We had an overwhelming
amount
of students (700+) who wanted to become involved and further, there
were more
than enough teachers that wanted to receive these undergraduates in
their
classrooms. In addition to this we saw interest from those in graduate
studies
as well as some professionals. Because the program was at its beginning
we
hesitated to invite all that wanted to join. For the Fall 2002
semester, the
program housed 35 undergraduates with 35 different teachers.
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