Whether combing the
wilderness for lizards, growing microbes in the laboratory, or scanning
the heavens, the possibilities of science are endless.
The World-Wide Day
in Science project creates a unique resource for high school and university
students wanting to know where science can take them, anytime in their
career, anywhere in the world.
On April 12th
2006, science students worldwide set out into the field and laboratories
to report on what is happening in science. What does a botanist
do all day? How does a forensic psychologist get inside a criminal’s
mind? Using video, voice, and photos, scientists at work are observed
and recorded.
Some professionals
in science recorded their activities on 12 April and sent
us their diary entries, a biographical sketch, and relevant images.
In our pilot
year, 100 students and scientists participated representing 20 nationalities.
By 2005, participation had grown to include students and scientists
from every continent, including Antarctica!
What
happens on April 18th 2007?
On 18th of April this year,
university and high school students around the world go into the
field and laboratories to record what is happening in science. Photos,
video, and voice captured science as it occurs on April 18th, not
a day sooner, not a day later. As noted above, professionals who
are not being shadowed record their own diary entries and snap few
photographs.
Student reporters
then assemble these observations into text or multi-media stories. Their
classmates take on editing and compiling submissions for addition to the
World-Wide Day in Science website. This site subsequently displays the
efforts of university science students from Sydney to Edinburgh, Tucson
to Montevideo. The website shows high school students how scientists the
world over comb the wilderness for lizards, grow microbes in the laboratory,
or scan the heavens. It becomes a resource for those wanting to know where
science can take them, anytime in their career, anywhere in the world.
What
will students on reporting teams learn?
The World-Wide Day
in Science process begins when students nominate for roles. In each role,
students need to discover for themselves the required duties and responsibilities.
Planners and team managers have to guide student reporters, producers,
editors, and technical production staff. The reporters and producers develop
multi-media stories that the editors and production staff then tailor
for addition to the World-Wide Day in Science website.
The students
will learn how to work in teams, hierarchies, and production lines;
how to handle concrete deadlines; how to communicate effectively
and delegate responsibility; and how to deliver a professional product
for public consumption. They become part of an active worldwide
network of scientists-in-the-making. Last but not least, they learn
what botanists, psychologists, and astrophysicists do all day.
Does
it work?
Yes. A local pilot,
‘A Day in the Life Sciences in Australia’, was successfully
carried out in 2003 by 82 second-year science undergraduates at the University
of New South Wales in Sydney. Hundreds of copies of the resulting CD-ROM
have been distributed to high schools around the Australia.
The process has been repeated in 2004, 2005, and 2006, with international scope and doubling in size each time. For 2007, the number and diversity of student reporters is expanding significantly. Regular contributors have been students from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain, The University of the Republic of Uruguay, and Edinburgh University. Joining them for 2007 are students from the Australian National University and United Arab Emirates University. .
To accommodate this growth in student and scientist contributors, the WWDS website has been upgraded to automate submission of stories. New features making our database of profiles of science-based professionals more interactive via an online 'personality test' completed by our student readers.
The University of
New South Wales is one of Australia’s leading research universities
with particular strengths in mathematics, psychology, physics, and the
life sciences. Course coordinator of the 2003 ‘A Day in the Life
Sciences’, Dr Will Rifkin, has been recognised as one of the leading
educational innovators in Australia. He has degrees from M.I.T., the University
of California-Berkeley, and Stanford University.
