There are two great ways to help the Durham students during School Days: invite them to sit in for 20 minutes in a course you are teaching between 10:15 – 12:45 on Tuesday, October 30 or meet with them for 20 minutes on campus to talk about your research interests.
The participating students relish the opportunity to see the academic side of the university. In middle school, their course selection opportunities are usually very limited and they are amazed at the range of courses and research going on at Duke.
It’s important to distill down a description of your research into lay language. It’s even better if you can tie it to the life of a 13-year-old. For instance a scholar on Supreme Court issues can talk about court decisions that impact all of our lives. Or a plant biologist can make links between their work and how crops are grown. Any hands-on activities go over very well. One statistics professor had students breaking up chocolate chip cookies (over a plate, of course) to count the number of chips. This data became part of a mini-lesson.
Please feel free to talk about a subject of your choosing. It can be your specific research or something general in your field. The key thing is to share the excitement of pursuing an academic topic.
Here’s how to make it all happen: simply click on the survey link and let us know the timing that works best for you, a title, and information about location, etc.
Thanks for participating in School Days.
