This Week in Science and Education (T-WiSE) was introduced in the summer of 2010. It is an internet show that talks about science news, scientific discovery and research; however, with an educational twist. T-WiSE’s target audience includes science teachers and K-12 students in the Canadian education system. The purpose of the show is to bring science information to teachers that is real-time, fresh and relevant and to provide some suggestion of how they can incorporate these ideas into their lesson plans and by extension, the curriculum. The content of T-WiSE is the most important part of the show as we interview incredible scientists, researchers, students and teachers who are making a difference in the science community today.
To meet our goal I realized the panel must be representative of both the education and scientific communities. I was fortunate to find two individuals who are amazing experts and educators in their own right. Dr. Thomas Merritt is a researcher and teacher from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario and Mr. Colin Jagoe is a teacher on secondment from the classroom to the board office at the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. I had worked with both of these individuals in the past and had a hunch they would be naturals in their roles as panelists on T-WiSE. I was right. They are both excellent and two of the most dedicated people I have ever known to education and science.
T-WiSE goes where the story is. While we usually use the internet as our production and distribution medium, we also enjoy going on the road and visiting locations. During the first year of production for T-WiSE we have been on location at Triumf in British Columbia and the SnoLab in Sudbury. While travelling is cost-prohibitive (especially for a charity) we do make an effort to ‘spice up’ the show by going on location as often as we can.
There are many ways to participate in This Week in Science and Education. You can apply to be a guest, you can ask questions both prior to and live on the show, and you can request a topic for a future show. I encourage you to contact our office for more information about any of these participation methods.
As always, thank you for your continued support of This Week in Science and Education!
Kevin Cougler
