Girls' Science Investigations (GSI) New Haven Curriculum and Educational Method

Girls' Science Investigations (GSI) New Haven is a program which aims at encouraging middle school girls to pursue careers in science. To accomplish this goal, each day at GSI features a different area of science; ``the material world,'' ``the chemical world,'' and ``the electromagnetic world'' are examples of the sessions held during the past two years. Every session features a short explanation of the science topic given by a volunteer and a variety of hands-on activities, which allow the girls to experiment with and absorb the concepts presented in the short presentations. Activities are selected based on their ability to visualize the concepts under study. The education philosophy of GSI is that if the students have the opportunity to perform science experiments themselves, rather than just watching others do it, and enjoy performing these experiments, then the students will be more confident in their ability to succeed in a scientific field. Thus, in addition to encouraging girls to learn as much science as they can, the volunteers work to ensure that the girls enjoy the program as well. By giving the girls the opportunity to explore science in a fun and exciting way, the girls begin to see themselves as capable of becoming scientists and are more inclined to pursue science in the future.