Science mentoring to spread PENNlincs

Supporters of PENNlincs, the University's science mentoring program, hope to expand the program to universities and colleges nationwide, the program's creator said yesterday. The National Science Foundation has asked PENNlincs Director Jean Roberts to submit a proposal on the possibility of creating more mentor programs based on the PENNlincs model for use at other universities. PENNlincs, a tutoring program comprised of University students with strong backgrounds in the sciences, sends students into city schools to work with schoolchildren. The volunteers conduct hands-on lessons and are concerned primarily with recording their observations. Each PENNlincs mentor tutors a small group of students in hour-long sessions each week, Roberts said. College senior Samantha Pozner, who has been involved in PENNlincs for the past four years, said the program seems to be extremely beneficial to the children she has taught. She said that the program provides an environment where the children are "learning, but having fun." Roberts stressed that the program is not a standard question-and-answer session, but that it is based on a "social-constructionist model" where the mentor finds out what the students know about the subject and then teaches them more about the subject. There are currently 26 city schools affiliated with PENNlincs. Building on the success of the program at the University, Temple University created a similar program last spring. The College of Textiles and Science and Drexel University are in the process of creating similar programs based on the PENNlincs model, Roberts said. Roberts added that other regions of the United States are being targeted as well. She said that universities in Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, New Mexico and Iowa have expressed interest in the program. Pozner said she that she finds it rewarding to help students who may not be motivated in a normal classroom setting Pozner explains that the small group settings facilitate learning, because a mentor can see the academic weaknesses in a group, and concentrate on the misunderstood areas.

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