BAYLOR GETS STUDENTS, TEACHERS
OUT OF CLASS, INTO LAB
Summer institute offers 22 interns hands-on science experience
 |
Andrea Davis, left, a biology teacher at Chavez High School, and Channing Paul, 17, a Chavez senior, work in the molecular and human genetics department at Baylor College of Medicine. Melissa Phillip: Chronicle
|
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
Houston Chronicle
Published: August 23, 2007
Nearly two dozen Houston-area students and teachers have taken summer school to the extreme.
Rather than just logging extra time in a classroom, the group has racked up hundreds of hours in the labs at the Baylor College of Medicine, helping post-doctorate researchers study everything from prostate cancer to Fragile X Syndrome.
As paid interns in the five-year-old Houston A+ Challenge/Baylor Summer Science Institute, a record 22 students and teachers are attending lectures, conducting research in the library and job shadowing. The institute concludes Friday, when students will give presentations on their work.
"I can't imagine having a better summer," said Brittany Kromer, 20, a Houston Community College student who is studying to become a nurse. "I even got to culture cells from mice and treat them with a double-stranded RNA to mimic a virus."
Student-teacher pairs
Student-teacher pairs, nearly all from the Houston Independent School District, were selected for the institute, which was created to give low-income students a chance to explore careers in the sciences. Fewer students are pursuing careers in science and engineering, according to research by the National Science Foundation.
"If we don't do something, we're going to be in deep doo-doo," said Scott Basinger, associate dean for extramural affairs at Baylor's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "Who's going to fill all the technical jobs? You can export only so much to India."
Shortages of funding and qualified teachers make it increasingly difficult for public schools to offer state-of-the-art labs or advanced science classes.
"This fills in the gaps," said Laurie Connor, education services instructional manager for Baylor College of Medicine. "There's just nothing like hands-on experience."
The $10,000 bill for each student-teacher pair's participation was footed by the McGovern Foundation, Houston Community College and HISD. Such programs are considered critical to ensure that students and teachers gain real-world experience.
"They're learning the work environment, the responsibilities, the language," said Michele Pola, executive director of Houston A+ Challenge, a nonprofit group. "It's important not to dumb down the language. They need to know and be taught it as a language. It's literacy across all disciplines."
Chavez High School senior Channing Paul, 17, isn't so sure that her friends will understand her new science vocabulary, which includes such phrases as "polymerase chain reaction," meaning copying small segments of DNA in a test tube.
"I love this experience," said Paul, who wants to become a medical examiner. "At Chavez, we don't do a lot of hands-on things in science."
Paul's teacher, 23-year-old Andrea Davis, was equally excited to have the opportunity to work in the lab.
Big gains for students
"I just took these classes in college. Now I'm actually getting a chance to do it," she said. "It's like pouring the cement: Everything's solidifying."
On top of the research know-how, students are gaining confidence, work skills and public speaking skills.
"This is going to be a lifetime experience for them," said Mahtash Moussavi, a biology professor at Houston Community College.
"To me, the scientific part is one of 100 things they learn from this."
|
