 The
Visiting Researchers are selected through a national announcement
of opportunity which seeks out individuals that are not only
passionate about what they do on the frontiers of exploration,
but are also gifted at communicating their passion to
audiences of all ages. We specifically seek
individuals who:
- operate outside of ‘lecture mode’ and can
truly engage their audiences through audience participation;
- can make science concepts, general content,
and the process of science understandable by building bridges
to the familiar;
- are able to design grade-level appropriate
presentations that relate to their research, and that connect
to relevant grade K-12 national science education standards.
The presentations must place their research within the context
of the scientific process—resulting in a wondrously personal
story of discovery. The researchers are to address:
the questions they are asking of the universe, why those
questions are particularly interesting to them, how they
framed an experimental pathway to an answer, what they learned
at the end of their journey, why that’s important, and how
it felt to possibly see something wholly new to the human
race.
The Visiting Researchers may be engaged in your
community in a variety of ways:
- The Visiting Researchers conduct classroom
presentations to students, typically 5 per day during the
time they are in your community. A National Team with
6 researchers visiting a community for a week will conduct
approximately 150 presentations, reaching 4,500 students—assuming
30 students per presentation. If classes are doubled-up
for the presentations, 9,000 students can hear first hand
about the nature of science and exploration.
- Family and public programs in the community
are designed around presentations by the Visiting Researchers,
providing exposure to science and scientists in informal
education settings.
- The Educator Workshops are delivered by a
Visiting Researcher and Visiting Educator
team in order to provide depth of expertise in both content
and pedagogy. The Visiting Researcher co-leading the
workshops is from the National Center for Earth and Space
Science Education.
- A Partnership Workshop is co-led by a Visiting
Researcher, Visiting Educator, and representatives of the
local education community. The workshop engages local
area institutions and individuals who are interested in
collaborating with area school districts on education programs.
A Workshop objective might be: to train local researchers
on how to conduct effective classroom and/or family programs
in order to address Journey program sustainability
in the community; or to develop a suite of effective behind-the-scenes
experiences in local research facilities for local students.
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