October 2005 — Applications

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Teaching the Fourth ‘R’ of Science Education: Research

By Frances Moss and J.D. Solomon

Applications

Teaching the Fourth ‘R’ of Science Education: Research
A partnership program between the Bronx High School of Science and Elsevier introduces students to the world of scientific research through ScienceDirect.

Last year, Kathleen, then a freshman at the Bronx High School of Science (NY), decided to research sleep patterns of the platypus. Her classmate John chose to study heart disease, and sophomore Daniel elected to prepare a report on the Hubble Space Telescope.As with all students at our school, these three were required to use primary sources (i.e., peer-reviewed scientific studies) as part of their assignments. Teaching students the difference between secondary and primary sources,and how to find and read journal articles,is an important part of the curriculum at the Bronx High School of Science. These skills are even emphasized in a course in research literacy, which is a requirement for all students.

Until recently, however, the requirement to include journal articles in student research posed a difficult dilemma for them. Subscriptions to scientific research journals are expensive, and even science-oriented high schools like ours typically subscribe to only a small number of science journals. So students either had to choose from two or three possible research topics, or they had to travel to a regional research library to find an appropriate journal covering an alternative topic they wanted to investigate.

But thanks to a partnership with Elsevier (www.elsevier.com), the largest publisher of scientific journals, the Bronx High School of Science has online access to over 1,800 research publications across virtually all fields of science. This is part of a program in which Elsevier provides selected science high schools with free access to ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), the company’s online journal portal of science, technology, and medicine full-text and bibliographic information. With our access to ScienceDirect, students can find relevant primary source material on virtually any topic they’re interested in—from the sleeping habits of the platypus to the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.

A Scientific Rewards Program
The Elsevier initiative, called the ScienceDirect High School Access Program, has particular meaning for the Bronx High School of Science because it was founded by one of our alumni, John Carroll, who is Elsevier’s director of business systems technology. “We see the program as a way to reward and perpetuate excellence in scientific study among tomorrow’s scientists,” says Carroll. “By providing students with access to the most current scientific information, we can help them build the kinds of research skills they’ll need in college and beyond.”