Alvaro of Sharp Brains (in a comment here) links to a high-school student's science essay that he posted on his blog and asks:
Why couldn't we approach a number of websites where science teachers hang out and propose some kind of essay contest for high-school students, with winning essays published in our blogs?
What do you think?
More like this
We're into admitted student season, that muddy period when large numbers of anxious high-school seniors visit college campuses all over the nation, often with parents in tow, trying to decide where to spend the next four years.
High school education makes a difference, but not quite in the way I'd hoped or expected. A recent correlational study looked at the effects of more discipline-specific education at the high school level on grades in college.
The New York Times recently published sample top-scoring essays from the new written component of the SAT test in order to show the type of work that was likely to score highly. Several bloggers, as well as the Times itself, have noted that the writing isn't exactly compelling.
From Ed Cone, via Steve Rubel, through
I'm supportive, but only if I can recruit for my college from the submitters! ;)
Hi Michael: well, that may be an incentive for all to participate :-)
Bora: I am scoping the idea better by talking to Jeffrey (the high-school Psych teacher). It would be easy enough to run a pilot in one discipline such as Psych and then expand, or try several at once if there are more "sponsors". Will share more thoughts in a couple of days.
Happy to hear more feedback
You could probably even set up a paypal accound for donations, and offer small prizes. I know I'D throw a couple of ten-spots into such an account.
I would also voulteer to publish an essay on my blog, though it is NOT a science blog...anyway...let me know if there is anything I can do.
This is a worthy idea to pursue. Perhaps we can continue via e-mail. It may be easier to access all science teachers in one locality (e.g., one state in the USA) than teachers interested in a single topic. Also, psych is not something that is taught that early - something that fits their basic curriculum yet is interesting (animal behavior?) may be a better fit for that age group.
ok, will email you.
Teresa: thanks for the support!