Today's Science for Tomorrow's Scientists
Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) is an interactive website developed by NSEC graduate student Caroline Pharr. TSTS introduces chemistry and engineering research that is being done at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. The research is presented at two levels, one for students in grades 5-8 and one for students in grades 9-12. The information presented on TSTS is in line with the National Science Education Standards, which aids teachers in incorporating the material into their curricula. The purpose of TSTS is to educate students about cutting edge research, to show the social implications of research, and hopefully, to give students a more positive attitude about science and engineering. Three evaluation surveys have been developed to explore the students’ attitudes towards science, the students’ understanding of the research environment, and the students’ understanding of the content presented on the website. These evaluation surveys are in the form of before and after tests. TSTS has been beta tested at high schools in the Madison area, and will be tested on a large scale this spring semester (2007) at a middle school and a high school in the Madison area.