Welcome to the SEMED page!
This program is a rare opportunity for students and teachers with hands-on experience with the latest high tech equipment. This is an opportunity where students meet and work with scientists and engineers while being informative, it is also very fun. This program will establish a connection between the classroom and the real world demonstrating that science is fun. Students will see how science is used in a working environment and show that scientists and engineers are real people. SEMED started at Michigan State University in 2002.
The goal of this outreach program is to educate non-majors, high school students, and teachers about Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). The program will be based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) education. The outreach program involves hands-on instruction in the use of an SEM and is designed to stimulate the students’ interest in learning more about MSE. Graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in teaching the students on SEM techniques and theory, thus providing beneficial leadership and communication skills for MSE majors. This educational outreach program is expected to contribute to an increase in the number of undergraduate students majoring in MSE. Completing the proposed work will also result in a greater knowledge and appreciation by non-materials science students of what MSE entails.
Background:
Communication skills, team-orientation, and leadership, have been the focus of a “hands-on” educational outreach program that has successfully educated hundreds of students since its inception at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in 1991. Prior to the inception of this program, two surveys were conducted at local high schools. The first survey revealed that teachers desired working with SEMs above any other scientific instrument, while the other found that students have a more positive response to hands-on work than any other type. Due to these findings, meetings were conducted and a formal program, called Scanning Electron Microscopy Educators (SEMeds), was conceived and initiated. In SEMeds, scientists and engineers at AFRL educate local high-school students about electron microscopy using a practice-theory-practice style of teaching. During the school year two sessions are held per month after work hours at the SEM laboratories of AFRL. The students are given hands-on experience in the use of a SEM and are also required to complete a project on their observations, using a material of their choice. This program offers a rare access for students and teachers to the same high-tech equipment used by scientists and engineers. The students' overwhelming response to the appealing program has made this ongoing outreach program a success
Past Experiences:
Below is what Bolivar-Richburg High School did with this program.
This is the criteria that was introduced to the students:
“Life Beneath The Naked Eye”
The scanning electron microscope (SEM) has opened up a whole new way of seeing organisms. Instead of being limited to what light microscopes can do, scientists can use sub-atomic electrons to create pictures never before seen. Because Biology is a science of the observable, the SEM has given scientists a whole new vision.
This project is two-fold. The first part of the project is to participate in a field trip. This field trip will include a lecture and a lab component. The lecture will be done by a graduate student or a professor and will explain how the SEM works and give some examples of how different professions can utilize the SEM. In the lab portion of this field trip, you will be taught the basics of how to use the scanning electron microscope on your own.
The second part of the project is your own. I will arrange a second field trip. During this time, you will create pictures that you will use for a poster display here at Bolivar-Richburg High School. This poster display can either give an in-depth look at one specific organism and include information about that organism or your poster may look at a series of organisms that are connected in some manner (bacteria of the mouth, or five butterfly wings, for example). The SEMED program volunteers will help us prepare our specimens for use.
Here are some posters that students who participated in SEMED made.
Project Description:
Objectives and significance of proposed outreach activities:
The outreach efforts are designed to educate non-majors on campus as well as high school students and teachers. Completing the proposed work will result in educating the students about an exciting tool, the SEM, used in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), while stimulating students’ interest in a career within the engineering field.
Outreach Program:
To insure the growth and prosperity of the variety of science and engineering careers it is critical to attract and continue the education of talented individuals interested in these fields. In an effort to improve public awareness of these careers, the outreach activities will incorporate the same tools used by materials scientists and engineers. The primary targets for this program are High School teachers. These teachers will provide a long-term connection to future generations of science and engineering students. The proposed is a highly integrated approach that includes non-engineering students on campus, high school students, and teachers. High School students and teacher training will be based on hands-on demonstrations and learning. The hands-on demonstrations and learning techniques should be well-received by teachers because it focuses on integrated learning between subjects and includes specifically a standard for conveying the concepts of scientific inquiry.
Click here to view the introduction powerpoint
Below are picture from Haslett high school visit
Below are pictures from Manistee high school visit
Below are the manuscripts published regarding this outreach program:
C.J. Boehlert, “Materials Engineering Education through Service Learning Involving Scanning Electron Microscopy Education”, proceedings of the 2005 ASEE North Central Conference held at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Oho, April 7-8, 2005, EV-3 service learning section of conference (ASEE, Chantilly, Virginia).
Printable versions of files that have to do with the program:
