GE Foundation supports Theory Center's virtual reality outreach effort

The GE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of General Electric, has awarded additional funding of $100,000 to the Cornell Theory Center (CTC) to support the Center's SciCentr/SciFair initiative.

SciCentr is an online museum of virtual worlds containing interactive exhibits teaching about such subjects as the evolution of stars, the physics of helicopter flight and crashes, modeling stock market volatility and bioengineering of crop plants. The exhibits are based on research conducted at Cornell and many are in use as teaching aids in K-12 science classes.

In the virtual world, users are represented by "avatars" that can converse with one another and interact with exhibits. This is part of an exhibit built by students at Lincoln Orens Middle School in Island Park, N.Y., to show the past, present and future of the rain forests. This scene imagines a future when the uncared for forests are gone. Cornell Theory Center

At a workshop at the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in New York City, teacher Charlene Chan, right, explains SciCentr's virtual worlds to an intern from Cornell Cooperative Extension, which plans to introduce more New York City students to SciCentr. Margaret Corbit

The portion of SciCentr known as SciFair contains exhibits developed by high school students who work online with Cornell student mentors. This year, 16 Cornell undergraduates will mentor approximately 100 teens from around the country.

The SciFair program began in 2001 with a pilot program at Tioga County's Spencer-Van Etten Central School that served 15 students. During the 2003-04 academic year, the program was expanded to serve 79 students at six sites: Chandler Middle School in Richmond, Va.; Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in New York City; Lincoln Orens Middle School in Island Park, N.Y.; Spencer-Van Etten 21st Century Community Learning Center; Taholah School, Quinault Indian Reservation in Taholah, Wash.; and Ithaca High School.

The new funding will let the program add approximately 20 new students at the Schenectady High School's Math, Science, and Technology House and the Ernie Davis Community Center in Elmira, N.Y., and will support an expanded relationship with American Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest (specifically in the state of Washington). CTC will host a professional development program for administrators and staff in three reservation schools in mid-September.

"The SciFair program helps to expand a teen's working knowledge and interest in modern science and the underlying mathematics," said Margaret Corbit, research outreach manager at CTC and director of the SciCentr program. "It provides an environment for students to acquire teamwork and basic computing skills; enhances mastery of curriculum-based content and skills; encourages a deeper understanding of the culture and context of research and careers in science, technology, engineering and math; and increases a student's motivation to continue learning in these content areas. Team members also benefit from their interactions with role models who serve as team mentors and are undergraduates at a major research university."

Faculty members help make the program successful. A Web-based exhibit prepared with help from Martin Wiedmann, Cornell assistant professor of food science, will allow visitors to sleuth food-borne pathogens. The Jumping Genes exhibit featuring the research of rice genomicist Susan McCouch, associate professor of plant breeding, is being used as an instructional tool in biology classrooms. SciCentr also is developing a virtual world that features astrological observatories that are the focus of a project done by Barry Perlus, associate professor of art.

The GE Foundation has helped to fund SciFair since 2002 through its Math Excellence program, which supports comprehensive K-16 strategies that result in long-term, sustained impact on the skills, interest and participation of underrepresented students in engineering, information technology and quantitative fields in business. Since inception in 2001, Math Excellence program has committed over $12 million in grants to programs, such as SciFair, that focus on strengthening and expanding diversity in the engineering, information technology and quantitative business pipeline.

"The foundation is committed to improving educational access, equity and quality around the world," said GE Foundation President Bob Corcoran. "Cornell's SciFair program, funded through our Math Excellence initiative, provides technology and advanced content for schools and teachers, and opens new horizons for students from disadvantaged backgrounds."

Additional sponsors of SciCentr/SciFair include the National Science Foundation, Intel, the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service and Right Limousine of Ithaca.