November 13, 2006

ReSciPE Education Workshop a Success

On November 8th, more than thirty scientists, science educators, and outreach coordinators from the University of Colorado, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and elsewhere learned that inquiry is a big part of making science exciting and meaningful.

Through a workshop given by CIRES’ Resources for Scientists in Partnership with Education (ReSciPE) project, the group discovered the challenge of identifying the contents of a black box without opening it. They also contemplated the artifacts found on the Iceman—frozen into the Alps more than 5,000 years ago—in an attempt to understand how students might learn more about the society he lived in.

Each activity helped demonstrate that inquiry can be used for more than teaching science content. Inquiry can help students understand how science works and also give them the skills to do science on their own.

Sandra Laursen and Lesley Smith of CIRES, who taught the half-day workshop, showed the group that inquiry makes education minds-on as well as hands-on.

Laursen and Smith, along with other colleagues, have led sixteen ReSciPE workshops around the country. Their work is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. For more information about their popular program and how to invite them to your area, please visit the ReSciPE site.