Academic librarians are supporting their schools’ college science programs by helping recruit, support and groom top STEM high school students as admissions candidates.
The librarians enable this by providing select high schools (and their most promising students) with the best educational video content available. It only requires the librarians to participate in JoVE’s College Ready STEM Partnership. The program lets JoVE-subscribing institutions designate high schools of their choice as recipients of JoVE Unlimited — for free.
Frequently, the universities already have relationships with these high schools, which act as feeders to their academic programs. Academic STEM librarians are already excited about the results of the initiative. “Anything we can do with the high schools to get the students more college-ready is very helpful,” says Assistant Dean of Library Operations and Services, Texas Woman's University, Kristine Reed.
Great Partnerships for High Schools, Academia
Reed notes her institution recruits students heavily from regional high schools, so participating in the College Ready STEM Partnership is a complete win-win. She says: “We often work with local high schools to give the students an understanding of what they will be facing in college with regard to research. The JoVE resources expose them to a unique new product for learning and research.”
And the high school beneficiaries are delighted, too. One such recipient is the Edmond Memorial High School, which was designated by JoVE subscriber University of Central Oklahoma. The high school’s library/media specialist Myka Gilliam, M.Ed, states: “The teachers love it. Our advanced placement chemistry teacher is a big fan. It means so much to us to partner with UCO to provide our students with college resources to better help them prepare for their future. Right now, we see nothing but amazing benefits and believe we will continue to do so.”
Building High School STEM Momentum
This program is quickly gathering momentum, as shown by a few facts:
- Over 100 high schools now have JoVE Unlimited access
- Through it, participating high schools can access more than 9,000 videos
- JoVE provides participants tutorial videos/webinars, as needed
- All the videos in Biology (including Advanced Biology), Chemistry, and Environmental Science are correlated to both AP and state standards
Scientists of the future will be a vast resource to the country and the world. They will be a source of therapies, innovative businesses, health and safety regulations, and so much more. So, librarians are in a great position to guide students through their classes and labs and, ultimately, into successful research, teaching, and commercial careers.
STEM Challenges for Students
Programs such as JoVE College Ready STEM Partnership are important for everyone who cares about STEM education. Science is a highly competitive field to begin with, and students face many challenges staying on their career tracks. According to one study, some 49% of all STEM students switch majors/drop out before graduating.
JoVE is accessible already by 200-plus high schools. It has demonstrated it helps students improve test scores, while enabling teachers to reduce time wasted during class, and in curriculum prep. Also, JoVE helps reinforce scientific lessons, as one Northeastern University STEM student, Divya Vijayakumar, points out in a blog.
“It was extremely difficult and confusing for me to find the resources that served my needs, but I discovered that JoVE’s videos were far better than listening to a lecture,” she writes. “Seeing a real person do an experiment is incredibly helpful in reproducing the same experiment.”
To learn more, you can watch this inspiring and informative video about the positive impact JoVE had on students at the Conrad Weiser High School.