Thanks to a generous grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, four Randolph-Macon College students spent summer 2016 interning at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond. Jordan Liesfeld ’17, Fraser Mayberry ’18, Emily Ford ’17 and Madisen Wise ’17 spent nine weeks designing curricular modules that can be used to bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational activities to students in grades 3-5.

Liesfeld, Mayberry, Ford and Wise worked under the guidance of Erika Carson, the Museum’s exploratory education architect. Together they created engaging activities in conjunction with the Museum’s “Speed” exhibit, which explores the intersection of motion and time.

Photos: Science Museum of Virginia

Curricular Module
The students designed a curricular module called the “Sound Curriculum.” During this block of activities, students will begin to be challenged to develop, rethink, and/or extend their existing beliefs about how the speed of sound is impacted by the speed at which it is able to travel. Participants will also explore how the speed at which sound travels to our ears tells us the approximate distance between the sound and where we are located in relation to that sound.

The materials the students created will be used in local after-school programs, including YMCA afterschool care programs and Boys and Girls Club programs in Metro Richmond. Specially-trained RMC students will observe the curriculum’s implementation in those programs and assess its effectiveness.

Mentorship
On August 2, 2016, the students gave a formal presentation of their ideas to staff at the Museum. April Marchetti ’97, the Garnett-Lambert Endowed Professor in Chemistry, mentored the students and attended the presentation.

“These types of hands-on experiences are very important for our students,” says Marchetti. “They give them an idea of what working in the real world will be like after they leave the college, as well as provide them with experiences they wouldn’t have at a larger institution. I enjoyed mentoring the students and helping them create a curriculum that they can actually see being used in an educational setting before they graduate from RMC. I am extremely impressed with their hard work and dedication.”

Innovation + Collaboration
Fraser Mayberry ’18, a psychology major and education minor, says the internship helped prepare her for a career as an elementary-school teacher.

“In many schools in Virginia, science has been cut back to only once a week,” says Mayberry, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and a campus tour guide and orientation leader. “Teachers and students are losing their appreciation for and excitement about science. As a result of my internship, I fell in love with elementary science, and I have new ideas about how to encourage my future students to enjoy science as much as I do.”

The most challenging part of the internship was coming up with out-of-the-box ideas for the curriculum, says Jordan Liesfeld ’17, a biology major and education minor.

“I’m used to writing classroom lesson plans, so it was a little hard to come up with such creative activities, but once we did the ideas just kept coming,” she says. A typical day at the Museum started with Liesfeld and her fellow interns brainstorming about activities that are fun, interactive, and engaging for elementary-school children. “Our goal was to create a curriculum that is different from the kind you’d find in a typical classroom,” she says.

Madisen Wise ’17 is a mathematics major and education minor. This was her third internship at the Museum. Wise, who plans on becoming a high-school mathematics teacher, says the best part of the internship was watching visitors interact with the Museum’s hands-on exhibits.

“Seeing children have so much fun was my favorite part of the experience,” she recalls. Giving a formal presentation to the Museum staff was a little nerve-wracking, but well worth the effort, she says.  “Everyone there is so kind and constructive. This internship solidified my commitment to teach STEM subjects to school-age children.”

Emily Ford ’17, an English and history major and chemistry minor, enjoyed collaborating with her peers and with Museum staff.

“We bounced ideas off one another and worked together to make the curriculum modules the best they can be,” says Ford, whose post-RMC plans include medical school and a career in trauma medicine. “We all brought different things to the table, so the final product was a unique mix of ideas.”