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Stacey Gould, a teacher in the Council Rock
School District in Pennsylvania, works with Professor Andrew Bocarsly
as part of Princeton's Partners-in-Science program, which strengthens
the links between university research and high school teaching.
photo: Denise Applewhite |
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Princeton chemists, high school teachers become
'Partners-in-Science'
by Steven Schultz
Three high school science teachers are spending the summer in the labs
of Princeton chemists conducting research on solar cells, environmental
chemistry and other areas of cutting-edge science.
The teachers are participants in the Partners-in-Science program, which
is designed to strengthen the links between university research and
high school teaching. The teachers return two summers in a row and have
year-round access to their Princeton University partners for help in
translating their experiences into classroom teaching.
"It is important for students to realize that science is an active
process," said Tim Anderson, a teacher at Princeton High School
and one of this year's participants. "It's something that they
can engage in and their teacher can engage in."
Anderson is working with Assistant Professor Stefan
Bernhard on making solar cells from novel materials that have the
potential to yield improved energy efficiency. "I am very, very
happy with the way it is going," said Bernhard of having Anderson
in his lab. It is likely that Anderson's work will develop into a publishable
scientific paper, Bernhard said. At the same time, the practical knowledge
and sense of excitement Anderson acquires will have a "multiplying
effect" as he passes it on to many students, Bernhard said.
Stacey Gould, a teacher in the Council Rock School District in Pennsylvania,
is working in the lab of Professor Andrew
Bocarsly, where she is helping develop ultrafine-grained metal alloys
that could be used as chemical catalysts.
Richard Rotter, a teacher in Montgomery Township High School, is working
in the labs of Professors Thomas
Spiro and Edward Stiefel.
Rotter is using lasers to study how ions bind to certain forms of iron
and manganese that are found in nature. The research is important for
understanding the fate of essential and toxic elements in the environment.
The teachers work closely with lab members but also have the independence
to shape their research. "If we had a graduate student come into
the group, he or she would do the same thing," said Carolyn Mordas,
a fourth-year graduate student who is working with Gould.
Partners-in-Science takes place at six universities in New York and
New Jersey. Bocarsly co-directs the program with Jay Dubner of Columbia
University. The program is funded by grants from the Camille and Henry
Dreyfus Foundation and the Lucent Technologies Foundation.
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