Summary
During the week of July 23, 2001, a workshop called Japan 2001
Science, Creativity and the Young Mind took place at Bristol
University in Bristol, England. Coordinated by the Clifton Scientific
Trust, it brought together 60 British and Japanese students
and provided them with a forum for learning and interacting.
One of the aims of the Workshop was to give the combined group
a new view of themselves as potential scientists and an ambition
to succeed at the highest level.
NASA's involvement with the Workshop began following a successful
pilot project with The Holy Cross School, Surrey, UK, in the
summer of 2000. Ruth Petersen, Glenn Research Center (GRC) Learning
Technologies Project Educational Coordinator, was contacted
by Lawrence Williams, Director of Studies at The Holy Cross
School, about a possible collaboration with the Director of
the Clifton Scientific Trust, Dr. Eric Albone, who shares Petersen's
commitment to real world science education. Realizing the true
potential of international collaboration using ICT tools, Petersen
contacted her colleague, Joe Kolecki.
During the Workshop Kolecki participated with six of the students
and their team leaders as a Space Science Team. Working within
the framework of a new ICT Learning Model
devised in collaboration with Williams, four interactive videoconferencing
sessions were held between GRC and Bristol University on four
consecutive days. During the sessions, students raised questions
concerning various theories about the probable formation of
volcanoes on Mars. Of specific interest was if the great Tharsis
volcanoes might be the result of an ancient collision of planetary
proportions, or if plate tectonic movement, evidence for which
was recently discovered by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Spacecraft,
might account for them.
The shared vision and enthusiasm of the team brought the Space
Science project to its successful conclusion.
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of the JAPAN 2001 SCIENCE, CREATIVITY AND THE YOUNG MIND WORKSHOP
[Mars in Japanese]
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