Well-trained
scientists are critical to America’s national security and
economic stability. Argonne’s Division
of Educational Programs, the largest in the Department
of Energy system, works to enhance science education in the
United States through a variety of programs including traditional
internships, teacher training and other programs that take advantage
of Argonne’s unique facilities.
Argonne hosts
the National School on Neutron
and X-ray Scattering. In 2001, 60 graduate students from across
the country attended the school that combines lectures and experiments
to teach students the fundamentals of the interaction of X-rays
and neutrons with matter. The students come from such disciplines
as physics, chemistry, geology, biochemistry, materials science
and biomedical and mechanical engineering.
“Argonne
is the best place in the country for the school because it is the
only location that has both an X-ray synchrontron and a spallation
neutron source user facility,” said Harold Myron, director
of Argonne’s educational programs, speaking about the lab’s
Intense Pulsed Neutron Source
and Advanced Photon Source.
The school is supported by the Department of Energy’s Office
of Basic Energy Sciences.
Traditional
internships remain an important method for the lab to train future
scientists. In 2001, more than 200 graduate students had appointments
at Argonne, and more than 350 undergraduates participated in research
programs. A testament to the success of these programs happens when
former students become researchers at the lab.
Luis Nuñez,
a researcher in the lab’s Chemical
Technology Division, interned at Argonne as both an undergraduate
and graduate student. “These appointments gave me great exposure
to state-of-the-art R&D in the fields of materials science,
engineering and other areas and opened my mind and increased my
curiosity toward research,” Nuñez said. The positive
experience he had as an intern not only encouraged Nuñez
to return to Argonne after he received his Ph.D., but also to serve
as a mentor and supervisor to students himself.
A study by the
Evaluation Center at
Western Michigan University also acknowledges the effectiveness
of an undergraduate internship at Argonne. According to the center’s
final report, “Overwhelming evidence from interns and mentors
indicates that the program provides an experience for undergraduate
students that is both unique and beneficial. Each intern has a professional
and often personal experience that is found no place else in the
usual university program.”
The report goes
on to say that interns “learn to appreciate practical experiences
in laboratories where they are pursuing real problems and interacting
with professionals engaged in meaningful work.”
Besides reaching
out to students at four-year universities, the lab also strives
to reach students at community colleges through a special internship
program. This is an especially important goal since at least 50
percent of U.S. college students attend a community college.
College students
aren’t the lab’s only focus, however. Several programs
are aimed at high school students in the hopes of stimulating their
interest in science and encouraging them to pursue a scientific
or technical career. These programs include research appointments,
the annual Science
Careers in Search of Women conference and the Rube
Goldberg machine-building contest.
Students are
only one part of the education equation. Argonne also has programs
to teach teachers. These include a program for science teachers
in training who spend 10 weeks studying at the lab and making lesson
plans based on Argonne research. The Educational
Outreach Vehicle trains educators in the use of sophisticated
scientific equipment and then brings the equipment to the teachers’
classrooms. The Educational
Networking Consortium provides Internet access to teachers and
helps them to learn how to harness this powerful tool for classroom
use.
Through all
of its programs, Argonne reaches thousands of students and teachers
around the country. In 2001, more than 17,000 people participated
in the lab’s educational programs. And on the World Wide Web,
the lab’s reach goes even further. The lab’s online
“Ask A
Scientist” program averages 1.4 million hits per month.
For more information,
please contact Donna Jones Pelkie.
Next: Teachers
study high-energy physics
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