Science Cheerleaders add new spark to STEM education

By Local Tech Wire STEM News
Local Tech Wire
Nov. 8, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. and PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A cheerleader’s job is to be energetic, visible, and vocal to rouse the crowd. And, that’s exactly the kind action needed to get people excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

Darlene Cavalier, a former cheerleader for Temple University and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, is leading an effort to engage citizen scientists and help inform the public about scientific issues that have an impact on their lives.

But, she’s adding her own unique twist – along with a few pom-poms.

As a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Cavalier was interested in citizen science projects – which is a term used for scientific work where volunteers, many of whom may have no specific scientific training, perform or manage research-related tasks such as observation, measurement or computation.

Working for Discover Magazine, she knew that much of the readership did not have the same scientific background of other science magazines that catered to those who did.

That’s when the Science Cheerleader was born.

LTW STEM News caught up with Cavalier to learn more about Science Cheerleader and how the positive exposure at the USA Science and Engineering Festival has helped expand her mission.

Why did you begin The Science Cheerleader?

I initially started Science Cheerleader as a blog to present people with more opportunities to get involved in science and to advocate for opening a congressional agency that would allow the public to come and talk with the scientists and representatives of Congress. But, the focus has shifted since then.

How so?

The citizen science component has completely outgrown the blog and evolved to its own business (http://scienceforcitizens.net/). What has emerged is a very unlikely focus because I was so adamant on not focusing on kids. Because of the name Science Cheerleader, I would find or someone would recommend to me a cheerleader who is majoring in chemistry or whatever. So I started doing these profiles of real science cheerleaders. Before I knew it, I had 50 of these interviews – mostly from the NFL because I did work for the National Science Foundation, NBC Learn, and the NFL to put together the “Science of NFL football” (an informative, 10-part video series that explores the science behind professional football).

What else did you learn by conducting these interviews?

One of the themes that I found in all of the interviews was this moment when asked what turned you on to science, and their answer was always some pivotal moment in middle school. It may have not been the first time they were exposed to science or even liked science, but there’s some moment in middle school, either good or bad, that encourages the pursuit of science.

What does a citizen need to know to be considered science literate?

I started reading up on the subject and discovered the work of George Mason University Professor James Trefil. Professor Trefil has written extensively about adult science literacy and in his book Why Science? he points out 18 points that everyone should know and understand about science. Some were simplified, like the universe is regular and predictable, but if you learn them and understand them, then you have a solid framework. Everything you learn afterwards can be folded into this framework.

How do the cheerleaders fit into this?

I met with Trefil to discuss a public awareness campaign that would pair one of his points of science literacy with a cheerleader from the Philadelphia 76ers. The result was the Brain Makeover. I borrowed a friend’s video camera and recorded videos of the cheerleaders saying one of Trefil’s concepts. We also came up with a quiz about the point and offered it up. It received more than 20,000 hits, and the campaign was picked up in the Fox News and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

What are some of the challenges of being a Science Cheerleader?

Cheerleaders have an expectation to be happy, look good, but don’t think or talk. But, then you have this other life as a scientist where you’re a deep thinker and not encouraged to look or behave in a certain way. It’s interesting to see how people balance those extremes.

Will there be more performances like you did at the USA Science and Engineering Festival?

We had 11 former and current professional cheerleaders performing at the USA Science and Engineering Festival. It was amazing. There are definite possibilities to do this again.