Service-learning Project: Senior Seminar (BIOL/CHEM 491)
Reflection Papers
The following comments are excerpts from reflection papers written by the Fall 2007 Senior Seminar class. Please note that names have been removed to protect the privacy of the students.
“The project benefited me in that it allowed me to see how fun science really is.”
“Another valuable lesson learned was the lesson on teamwork; . . . I had to learn to negotiate and cooperate effectively.”
“. . . the students often asked questions that sparked questions of my own. Since I wanted the students to have the best overall experience, I also found myself reviewing certain concepts I once learned.”
“I liked working with the kids and the interest they showed in all the experiments. They made me feel like I actually learned something in the last four years.”
“ I believe the students from G.E. Peters were not the only ones who learned from this experience. It has helped me get over my fear of talking in front of people and taught me how to communicate and better express my thoughts on a certain topic.”
“ Before taking on this project I was really nervous about teaching the school children, . . . you really have to explain every minor detail. Sometimes in doing that (explaining minor details) you find that the basic ideas are harder to explain then the hard ones.”
“In the process of researching topics, . . . I learned to perceive the notions of science in a different manner. . . . With the experiments that we choose to illustrate, I learned how to make a relation between topics taught in challenging courses such as physical chemistry, to simple concepts that we all learned back in elementary school. . .”
“I learned the importance of challenges; . . . it was a challenge in that I had to face my reservations about speaking in front of unfamiliar faces about science in such a way that the young students would understand it. . . . Not only do I feel a little bit better about public speaking, but I also gained a better understanding of what I contribute to my group. I noticed that my strength lies in facilitating the experiment in terms of organization.”