Seniors in service: Project SERVE (Science Enrichment using Retired Volunteer Educators), an intergenerational program for improving the quality of chemistry education in the EC-12 classroom

CHED 1690

Dominick J. Casadonte Jr., Dominick.Casadonte@ttu.edu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409
This work details the development of an intergenerational chemistry education program involving senior citizens and EC-12 students entitled Project SERVE (Science Enrichment using Retired Volunteer Educators). In this pilot project the PI trained sixteen senior citizens during the fall of 2004 in age- and pedagogy-appropriate chemical and general science principles. The seniors were sent into eight under-performing lower socioeconomic (LSES) elementary and junior high classrooms in Lubbock, TX in the spring of 2005 in order to act as teacher's aides, tutors, mentors, and/or resource persons. They were responsible for direct interaction with the students in both individual and group formats. This study impacted approximately 500 students in the program area. Assessments included pre- and post content testing for seniors and students, attitudinal and interview assessments of seniors, students, and teachers, observations of dyadic and group senior-student interactions, physical assessments of the senior's well being, and metacognitive analysis.