News — August 22, 2024
Engaged Scholars: Sharon Amacher
August/September 2024
Engaged Scholars is a series highlighting Ohio State faculty who have made an impact in our communities through their community-engaged research and teaching. Pictured: Hands-on STEM learning in the classroom: Day 2 of BioEYES! Sharon Amacher (right) and a team of five undergraduates enrolled in the BioEYES service-learning course (MolGen 4581S) are getting 5th graders ready to collect zebrafish embryos and look at them under the microscope.
Sharon Amacher
Professor
College of Arts and Sciences/Molecular Genetics and College of Medicine/Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology
I coordinate many Department of Molecular Genetics community engagement activities, including booths at the annual WestFest Science and Sustainability Festival and the COSI Big Science Celebration and facility tours for State Science Day at Ohio State. My most extensive effort is running the Project BioEYES program, which I recently converted into an undergraduate service-learning course. BioEYES is an international curriculum developed collaboratively by scientists and K-12 educators to engage students in hands-on science. Every autumn, we bring live zebrafish into Columbus elementary school classrooms; students breed a zebrafish pair, collect the embryos and follow their development over the course of an entire week, observing them under the microscope as they hatch into larvae. During BioEYES, kids don't just do science, they become scientists. BioEYES is also a teacher-training program; after a couple years, classroom teachers become BioEYES educators and can independently teach the curriculum with loaned materials. This empowers teachers and enables us to expand into new schools. BioEYES is free for participating schools. Since 2019, BioEYES has reached more than 700 Columbus 4th and 5th graders. The overarching goal is to spark interest in STEM, foster interactions between public schools and Ohio State, and make science and scientists approachable.
Why is it important to engage the community in your research and teaching?
It is crucial for scientists to engage with the community. Much of what scientists do is federally funded and for public benefit, so it is critical that the broader community feels connected to scientific discovery. Diverse scientific teams are more successful, so it is also critical to ensure that STEM fields are inclusive. Because BioEYES brings college students into elementary school classrooms, elementary students get to see firsthand that aspiring scientists are real people from all backgrounds and walks of life. They connect with scientists and even feel empowered to think of themselves as future scientists. I believe that all kids are natural experimentalists and that engaging them in hands-on activities is the best way to grow and nurture their innate curiosity in the living world. I chose to work at the upper elementary level because that is when many students, especially girls, start to lose interest in science.
What led you to the path of engaged scholarship? How did you get started?
When I remember back to the K-12 experiences that sparked my interest in science, they were all hands-on activities that I still remember to this day. These experiences made me feel smart, connected, curious and engaged. It is those experiences that have motivated me to engage with young learners in our community. My first efforts were simple; I just brought a microscope and zebrafish embryos into my kids' preschool classrooms. I will never forget the squeals of delight as the toddlers watched the tiny fish wriggling through the eyepieces; watching a child (or their parent) gasp as they look through a microscope for the first time is still one of the most rewarding aspects of community engagement for me!
How has your scholarship benefited from engaging with community partners?
Participating in BioEYES has helped make my students and me become better researchers, teachers, communicators and people. My undergraduates have remarked about how challenging it is at first to communicate science at the appropriate level, and how much more comfortable they felt after just a of couple visits to the classroom. Every time we enter a classroom, we all learn from each other and about each other. Working with the community has made me think about how to effectively connect with others and to tell my own scientific story in a way that is approachable to everyone.
What has been a highlight of your community engagement experience?
Hearing from the elementary students and teachers who have participated in the program, and from the undergraduates enrolled in the BioEYES course, has been an absolute highlight for me. I smile every time I read quotes like these from Columbus 5th graders!
"I love love, love being a scientist."
"Being a scientist is awesome!"
"I love bioeyes because I get to be a scientist."
"Bioeyes was the funnest project I ever had."
"It was so much fun this was my first time using a microscope."
"My favorite part was looking through the microscope. I loved to see them move and grow over time. Seeing their blood move through their body was cool."
"I will never forget the time I was a scientist."
What advice would you give to faculty and students who are interested in engaging the community in their scholarship?
Public schools have established standards for every grade level. So first, it is critical to work with classroom teachers and school administrators at the onset to ensure that the activity or program you are envisioning helps teachers address those standards. Partner with K-12 teachers to discover where your efforts would best help address critical aspects or gaps in their curriculum. Project BioEYES, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, was initially developed as a collaboration between a scientist and a public school educator, and it is this collaborative effort that has been the key to the program's long-standing success. Second, it is important to learn from others who have successfully engaged with the community; they have valuable experience and know-how; in my experience, these engaged scholars love sharing what they have learned with others who share their passion around community engagement.
Sample Engaged Scholarship
Zebrafish videos taken with 4th graders in the elementary school classroom:
WestFest and coverage from The Lantern (see Molecular Genetics activities at the 1:12 mark!)
BioEYES field trips to Ohio State