When you travel across the ocean for a research stay, you expect to feel a breeze of fresh air in your project. Going to Chicago is the perfect place for this because it is called the “Windy City” for a reason. This is the story of my research stay with Norman Lederman and the group of Science Education at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
I had been abroad for my studies before. I had been to Cambridge and Edinburgh in the UK. Both are traditional places of learning located in old, relatively small cities. Chicago was different from the start. It impresses with sheer size and modernity. At first, it feels daunting to walk down Adams Street between skyscrapers from the early 20th century towards Willis Tower, still one of the tallest buildings in the world. However, it was at that moment, when I realized that I had come to a city full of opportunity, where sky is indeed the limit. Seizing these opportunities was my main goal for my research stay.
Originally, I had come to Chicago with a clear purpose in mind. I had contacted Prof. Lederman at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the early summer because he is an expert in the field of learning and teaching about scientific inquiry. We had agreed that I would spend six weeks with him and his group writing an article about work I had done earlier and discussing my PhD project. Already in my first meeting, I was impressed with his personal warmth but also with his work rate. He had just returned from a research project in China the day before but took almost two hours to get to know me and discuss the plan for my research stay. From that very first day, I always had the opportunity to give drafts of the research article to Prof. Lederman and received feedback within a day or two. As a result, the article has now been submitted for review with an international journal.
Science Zone
Our aim is to engage learners with the process of scientific inquiry. To achieve this, we create learning environments that provide hands-on scientific inquiry experiences. In RESOLV, we created a one-day project for the Alfried Krupp School Laboratory. Currently, we are developing an exhibition on cutting-edge research and how it is done. In the exhibition, the visitors will also be able to create and carry out their own investigations. On both these activities, we collect data on how participants communicate about the process of scientific inquiry. We analyze this data to create a model of conditions that either promote or inhibit the participants’ engagement with scientific inquiry.
Please visit our website for more information: http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/didachem/
While working on the article happened exclusively with Prof. Lederman, I had the opportunity of discussing my PhD project with various members of his chair. It was fascinating and demanding to explain, exchange and debate my ideas to and with experienced research staff as well as other PhD students from countries stretching from China over Chile to the US. In the end, I have a new instrument for data collection in my arsenal and a much firmer idea about the relevance (and limitations!) of my project.
Yet, when you travel, you always get more than you expect. Prof. Lederman’s chair is a hub for science educators in Chicago. So, I met people from various education communities: museum educators, university outreach staff and teachers, of course. Every new contact was a further chance to experience the American ways of science educations. I was especially grateful for people to invite me to their workplaces at other universities and in museums to observe and discuss their approaches to educating the public about science. Furthermore, the permanent PhD students in the group also took me along to science educator meetings all over the city in museums and at universities, where I had the chance to participate in discussions about science education and science education research.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Lederman and his group for hosting me and making every effort to engage with my research and with me as a person. I would also like to thank IIT for providing me with accommodation for my stay. I am convinced that the relationships we have built will continue to be fruitful for all parties in the future.
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