Comments on: Penn Summer Science Academy

By: rimpal

rimpal — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:10:13 +0000

$6,299 Residential Tuition + $200 passage + $200 incidentals?
…I am happy for these children. I am glad their parents can afford it. I sent mine to 2 1-week camps at a public university last year that . One was free and the other was reasonably priced at $250. This year no camps were offered – budget cuts. Given my current circumstances, I would struggle to even pay the application fee. So mine is learning to work on cars and plumbing this summer as a sort of apprentice. But blogs like yours offer so much to discuss. Thanks for helping people like us.
Other associations too help. The Columbus Humanists let me and mine attend PZ Myers’s lecture for free earlier this year. Scientists can be such teddybears. Thanks again!

By: Cormac O Raifeartaigh

Cormac O Raifeartaigh — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:01:53 +0000

Well done Mark. I’d love to do something like this -I often give BB talks to adults, never thought about summer schools! Must get onto it for next year…

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:23:04 +0000

In the picture I see mixture of interest (leaning forward) and lack of interest or something else negative in the kids with their arms folded.

Personally, I usually sit back in lectures I’m interested in, and often fold my arms. Not to say they were fascinated, just that one can’t read a picture.

I taught physics to gifted middle-schoolers in SIG one summer during my postdoc at Michigan. To keep their attention we did a lot of hands on stuff. As little passive learning for them as possible. They were so involved and excited that I had more fun than I imagined I would. Doing things hands on, we could even cover things like topology, GR, and QM. Much math was omitted though. A third of the class were girls, and they had just as much fun.

Indeed, sometimes hands on demonstrations etc. are very useful.

You can’t lecture to these kids like they’re undergrads or grad students.

Who would do that?

Must always adapt to fit the audience.

All good speakers do.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:01:03 +0000

In the picture I see mixture of interest (leaning forward) and lack of interest or something else negative in the kids with their arms folded.

I taught physics to gifted middle-schoolers in SIG one summer during my postdoc at Michigan. To keep their attention we did a lot of hands on stuff. As little passive learning for them as possible. They were so involved and excited that I had more fun than I imagined I would. Doing things hands on, we could even cover things like topology, GR, and QM. Much math was omitted though. A third of the class were girls, and they had just as much fun.

You can’t lecture to these kids like they’re undergrads or grad students. Must always adapt to fit the audience.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:50:38 +0000

per – blinking, I’m sure!

Spiv – I don’t know anything about the selection criterion, so can’t say anything useful about that. It is highly competitive and this is the group that made the cut this year. I also don’t know anything about previous years etc.

As for the more general question; I think many of us are doing what we can to try to inspire smart young people to be scientists, no matter what their gender, race, etc. But we’re not the only influences.

By: Spiv

Spiv — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:17:55 +0000

Any thoughts on the apparent 2:1 boy:girl ratio that seems to be? Whole class is not pictured, so it’s possible the future women scientists grouped together in the back due to their superior vision.

Or perhaps we’re still not doing the best possible job of inspiring young women to the sciences?

By: per

per — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:59:04 +0000

Eager? I see a guy sleeping in the picture!