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Paper: Undergraduates Learning to Teach Collaboratively in High School Classrooms
Volume: 443, Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach
Page: 287
Authors: Perrodin, D.; Lommen, A.; Douglas, S.; Naylor, C.; Penfield, A.; Schmidt, D.; Zatko, P.
Abstract: In the spring of 2010, five undergraduates from Franklin & Marshall College conducted visits at J. P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, under the umbrella of the Mid-Atlantic Relativistic Initiative in Education (MARIE). They introduced high school students to advanced topics in astronomy, such as dark matter, gravitational lensing, and cosmology. Not only did the outreach program benefit the high school students who were introduced to “sexy topics” in astronomy, but the undergraduates also gained teaching experience in a high school setting, learning to create lesson plans and to implement teaching techniques that engage students as active learners. They acted as role models for the high school students who were just a few years younger. They learned useful skills such as presenting information clearly and confidently, and with the use of journals they reflected on their teaching practice and shared reflections with the group throughout the semester, learning to become confident and reflective teachers.
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