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Point to pictures at left &
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| JCU initiates a multi-faceted,
interdisciplinary effort - Project ¿QUÉ? |
 "See those little bugs crawling around inside? Gross, huh? ... Hey, is that a dragonfly larva? ... Something's wrong. Nothing's moving in my dish."
The energy emanating from the 20 middle school students belies the fact this
is summertime and they are in school. The youngsters from La Sagrada Familia
Catholic Church are at John C arroll
this week (July 17-21) taking part in Project
¿QUÉ? (Question,
Understand, Explain). On this Wednesday morning (July 19) they are peering through
microscopes at samples of water from the Shaker Lakes.
"We start with a simple question and then have the students organize data, create basic graphs and write basic reports," explained Biology Professor Miles
Coburn, who chairs the interdisciplinary team of JCU students and profs. They include:
JCU's Janid Rodriguez '07, President of the Latin American Student
Association, who recruited LASA members John
Fababe '08, Andy
Orta '09,and Caitlin
Soucek '08 along with her sister Jady (a Tri-C student);
Adjunct Biology Professor
Michael Kimmel, Program Director for Master of Arts in Integrated
Science; Assistant Mathematics & Computer
Science Professor
Jerry Moreno, who provides guidance on handling the data;  Assistant
English Professor Thomas Pace who, with graduate students Jon
Steiner '07 and
Beth Tomlinson '07, works with the project participants
in the writing phase; Assistant Sociology Professor Gloria
Vaquera and Associate Multicultural Affairs Director Diane
Campbell, who are assessing
the project; and Margie Matos from La Sagrada Familia, recruited
the students from her parish and serves as liaison with the families.
Projects ¿QUÉ? is multi-faceted. "We're following state math & science standards
for 6th graders," Dr. Coburn said. "We'll be doing some tutoring during the school
year and also engaging in social activities with them and their  families." For
example, this week concludes with a celebration in the Dolan Science Center and
an overnight in Bernet Hall.
"We'll also follow up with our undergraduates," he added, "to see how a project
like this enhances the college experience and supports retention."
Dr. Coburn secured grants from the Bruening Foundation, the Nord Family Foundation
and also received support from the Program in Applied Ethics and the Office
of Multicultural Affairs. His goal is to expand Project ¿QUÉ? next year. |
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more information contact Dr. Miles Coburn |
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