I’ve been in the Netherlands for 3 months now! I am very grateful for this opportunity and all the learning I have gotten to do. Here is my April update! (Here are my past updates: February update & March update).
Fulbright Inquiry Project
I have made progress on my Fulbright inquiry project! My goal for April was to figure out the direction my project will take, then start outlining my final project. I decided to create resources for teachers to help them get started with citizen science (personally, in their classroom, or both). Additionally, I plan to make three 5E lessons which use citizen science in some way. For the week of May 8-15, my work will be posted on our internal Fulbright Work in Progress gallery and will be open to feedback from my Fulbright DAT peers. I duplicated the post into a Google Doc–please take a look and leave any feedback you have. There are a few guiding questions at the bottom.
Adventures & Learning Opportunities
April brought even more school visits. The most notable were my two visits to schools with Technasiums. Technasiums are a program offered at many schools throughout the Netherlands. It is a STEM course where students work in teams to solve real-world problems. It is like problem-based learning meets MakerSpace. For example, one class I visited was creating visitor gifts for a local business. On the day I visited, the teams virtually met with representatives at the company and presented their prototypes; they received feedback on their design. Their next steps were to create a final design. This project will take approximately 8 weeks, which is typical for a Technasium project.
I have been continuing my work on the “Introduction to Citizen Science & Scientific Crowdsourcing” offered by the University College London. I am almost to the end of the course and I have learned a lot in the process. I appreciate that it has taken me on a deep dive on what goes into citizen science projects, including ethical considerations and data management. While I do not plan to create my own citizen science project, I do plan to regularly contribute to existing projects on my own and with my students.
Science Perceptions Survey
I am still gathering some preliminary thoughts on science and scientists through this anonymous Science Perceptions Survey. I am hoping to gather data from a wide range of individuals. If you are comfortable, please share it with others, including family members, personal children, and students.
More Frequent Updates
I post more frequently on Instagram (@MsVenturino) as I adventure new places and learn new things. My research journal gets updated a couple times a week too; I created this to share with colleagues and family off social media and it has worked out really well. I am grateful for all the comments people have left to ask questions or just say hi.
Mari Venturino 