The Wisconsin MRSEC Educational Video Competition has been launched to promote online science and engineering outreach in the current environment of social distancing where the majority of students are receiving science enrichment at home. The deadline to submit videos is January 20, 2021.
Education and Outreach
2020 BREW Focuses on Data and Generating Ideas for Science-at-Home Videos
The 2020 Breakthrough Research and Education Workshop (BREW) was held on Thursday, October 1st. 74 faculty, graduate students, postdocs, guest presenters, and staff attended. One of the themes of this year’s BREW was the use of data and machine learning in materials science. The second half of the event was the education workshop.
(2020) Research Endeavors, Cross-Cultural Experiences, and Educational Activities
The Wisconsin MRSEC Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program is a cross-cultural collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM). The RET program provides science teachers from Wisconsin and Puerto Rico an authentic research and cultural literacy professional development experience. The program culminates with an in-person capstone week where the RETs from both sites share the research-inspired classroom activities they have developed and learn from one another about teaching in a different cultural and geographic environment. The teachers learn about the area and culture that is unique to the site hosting the capstone.
Materials Science Activities at Home!
Looking for high-quality science and engineering activities that your young learner can do from the comfort of your home? Well then, we’ve got you covered! Check out our At-Home Science Activities page! On that page, you’ll find videos guiding you through the activities, links to more detailed information, and age range. All the activities we post on that page will have their estimated cost listed, as well. We are aiming for the activities to be inexpensive, or even better, FREE!
Educational Games Take Stay-at-Home Kids to the Next Level
UW–Madison engineers and Field Day Lab game designers have developed options for productive screen time that kids at home during the COVID-19 pandemic can benefit from and enjoy. Educational and fun video games aimed at middle and high school students are available free.
2019 BREW Participants Help Develop Three Educational Activities
During the 2019 BREW Education Workshop, attendees were asked to evaluate, refine, extend, and hack three outreach activities that are currently under development in the MRSEC.
(2019) Reaching Underserved Audiences by Bringing Science to a Local Food Pantry
Not all members of our community have the time or resources to attend science outreach events. To reach some of those people, the Wisconsin MRSEC conducts its engaging, hands-on science activities to a local food pantry. Customers can wait up to 90 minutes at the food pantry, providing ample time for educational activities for kids, their parents, and other curious adult visitors. By bringing science and engineering activities to the food pantry, the Wisconsin MRSEC forms connections with and helps inspire a new, diverse audience composed entirely of economically disadvantaged members of the community.
(2019) All Aboard the Improv-Science Trolley: Learning Science in Unexpected Places
During the Wisconsin Science Festival, a statewide event that reaches over 30,000 people, the Wisconsin MRSEC developed an improvised science program held on a trolley that shuttled passengers between 27 science activities around Madison’s Capitol Square. On the trolley, an all-female team interviewed eight early career researchers about their research and lives to enable the ever-changing trolley audience to learn about the scientists and their science as well as ask their own questions of the researchers. More than 150 people rode the trolley and learned about scientific research during their journey. The event was an excellent professional development opportunity in science communication for the researchers and was covered by the Wisconsin State Journal.
(2018) Wisconsin MRSEC Researchers and Teachers Collaborate to Create Digital Educational Games
The Wisconsin MRSEC has developed research-inspired educational digital games that are each being played over 1900 times/week. Atom Touch teaches students about atom behavior, bonding, and forces. Crystal Cave lets students explore how molecules form repeating patterns to grow into large crystals. During development, local K-12 teachers provided input on how to make the games more engaging for student learning.
(2018) Wisconsin MRSEC teaches Improv for Science Communication for the Materials Research Society
Over 90 people attending the 2017 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall meeting practiced their science communication skills during two interactive, improv-based workshops presented by the Wisconsin MRSEC. The workshops were based upon the highly successful Improv to Improve Science communication and Teaching course for graduate students that Wisconsin MRSEC members co-developed with a Madison theater company and teach at UW-Madison. The workshops were designed to help MRS members practice communication skills, interact with audiences, and collaboratively develop an elevator pitch for their
own research projects. The workshop can be adapted to various time constraints, workshop objectives, and numbers of attendees and has been presented over a dozen times at UW-Madison.