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Mentoring Options for Space Grant Fellows and Scholars
Opportunities for Graduate and Undergraduate Students and Faculty >> PSGC Scholarships and Fellowships >> Mentoring Ideas

Purpose of Mentoring Requirement

The purpose of the mentoring requirement is to increase awareness of and participation in science, math, engineering and technology for all citizens with a particular interest in reaching underrepresented groups. This refers to women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, and students in rural areas or from very low-income backgrounds. The students targeted may be from any level of elementary to the first year of graduate school.

Time Commitment

Fairly modest - 10 hours a semester

Possible Activities

  • Tutoring
  • Counseling
  • Presentations/lectures
  • Modeling research careers by explaining and demonstrating the research activities of the mentor and her/his research environment
  • Teach study skills to undergraduates
  • Mentor K-12 teachers in your area of expertise
  • Mentor science education students
  • Offer to be an "Answer Person" for a class through the Internet
  • Aid students to make more professional science fair presentations
  • Go back to your home town and speak to students about science or engineering, and what skills will help them succeed in college
  • Act as a role model
  • Teach students how to apply the scientific method by giving them a question on something known, giving students the resources or equipment, and ask them to find an answer, document the results, and orally present the findings.
  • Participate in Space Day/Exploration Day at Penn State

Possible Content

  • How to get into college in science or engineering
  • How to get into graduate school in science or engineering
  • What research is like
  • Why science and engineering careers are exciting and important
  • Demonstrations, projects, lectures on science and engineering topics
  • Publish a list of possible majors and careers in science and engineering

Institutional Venues

  • Hold panel discussions or make presentations for the minority and women student organizations in agricultural sciences, earth and mineral sciences, health and human development, science, or engineering
  • Help an undergraduate get a paid research experience through the NSF:REU program

Mentoring Performed by Current & Past Fellows

  • Counselor for space life sciences training program at Kennedy Space Center
  • Coached Mt. Nittany Middle School Enviro-thon team
  • Counseled undergraduate students on one-to-one basis
  • Mentored undergraduate/MS students during lab or field activities
  • Mentored and tutored International high school student interested in science
  • Coached Girl Scout troop for badge activity
  • Organized Take Our Daughters to Work Day for department
  • Organized an astronomy program for Camp Fitch, Erie
  • Developed an interactive website on volcanos
  • Presented at Take Our Daughters to Work Day
  • Presented an activity to Junior Museum, State College, for students and parents
  • Presented during Penn State Workshops for Science Educators, University Park
  • Presented a popular lecture for 400 at an Academic Boosters Award ceremony in home town
  • Presented planetarium/slide shows for school groups
  • Presented at classes from kindergarten through high school
  • After presenting, invited students to University Park to visit labs
  • After presenting, invited students on a field trip
  • Presented at local charter school
  • Presented to Upward Bound high school students
  • Presented to high school girls at WISE Week, University Park
  • Presented a booth or a poster at Space Day at Penn State, University Park
  • Presented to high school students at Food and Agricultural Sciences Institute
  • Presented at Bug Camp, University Park
  • Presented at Brown Bag Seminars conducted by the department
  • Interacted with the general public at the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium booth at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Harrisburg

For more information, applications, and assistance contact:

Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium
2217 Earth and Engineering Sciences Building (mail)
218 Earth and Engineerings Science Building (office)
University Park, PA 16802
Tel: (814) 863-7688
Email: spacegrant@psu.edu

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Last Updated: January 28, 2008