Albert Einstein memorial situated in an elm and holly grove in the southwest corner of the National Academy of Sciences grounds, Washington, D.C. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith
Every year I look forward to mid-October when the Einstein Fellows visit the Science Reference Section. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows Program is made up of master teachers from across the United States and is sponsored by the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education. The Einsteins, as I like to call them, spend about a year working with Members of Congress and federal agencies/organizations like Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The Einsteins bring their extensive knowledge and experience in the classroom to enhance the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs and policies of these science agencies and help Members draft legislation to improve K-12 education.
2012 Einstien Fellow (Group 2) L-R Steve Ruthford (NSF), Deborah Britt (NSF), Pamela Truesdell (NSF), Britta Culbertson (NOAA), Joseph A. Isaac (NSF), Paulo Oemig (NASA), Chris Campbell (NSF), Lynn Foshee Reed (NSF), Kathy Malone (NSF),and Melissa George (NSF). Photo taken 10/23/2012 in the ST&B Conference Room, John Adams Building.
Science Reading Room staff and the Digital Reference Team have been working with the Einstein Fellows for the past 15 years! For this year’s session, our science librarians displayed the most pertinent publications on science experiments, scalable e-learning tools for science disciplines, and recent innovations in science teaching. For each fellow we selected 5-10 books of special interest based on each individual’s background. Also on display were books on teaching and science textbooks from the 19th and 20th centuries. We like to show these older books because they can help give perspective on how teaching has changed, or in some instances, remained the same. They also provide a lot of laughs. Every year, the ‘class’ favorite is the 1939 book The Problem Teacher by Alexander Sutherland Neill, who has also written about The Problem Child (1926) and The Problem Parent (1932).
We also provide an orientation to the Library’s website. Kris Pruzin, from the Library’s Digital Reference Team, gave a tour through the Library’s web pages, highlighting her favorite sites, and I illustrated how teachers have been using our Everyday Mysteries website to teach students how to tackle research queries.
It’s exciting to learn about the various projects of the Einsteins, and in turn, they enjoy learning about the Library of Congress. Throughout the next year we will be in touch with the Einsteins, helping them use the Library of Congress collections and resources. It gives us great satisfaction to help teachers.
Albert Einstein would be proud!
October 25, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Einstein is the scientist who is the most famous in the world.
In the present scientific community, there is not his rival.
However,
The live times of Einstein,
I knew the fact that a scientist of “the quantum mechanics” was a rival recently.
Quantum mechanics
Dark matter
Hicks particle
When an unknown domain is elucidated
Existence of the theory of relativity of Einstein,
What kind of “evaluation” does it become?
I think so that it is the passage point now.
October 25, 2012 at 11:10 pm
As a second-year Einstein Fellow, I would like to thank all of you for the amazing job you do with us fellows and with the library overall. Before the fellowship, I honestly have to say that I had no idea what the Library of Congress was really like. From Colorado, it just seemed like a remote location where all books were housed (sorry for my ignorance!!). I was excited last year to share the Library of Congress with my colleagues back in Colorado, along with the immense resources. I also have to say that I was so touched by the personal touch you gave, providing a unique stack of books for each of us. While my second year is even busier than my first fellowship year, there was not a chance I would miss returning to the Library of Congress, and once again, it was an amazing experience put on by amazing people. Thanks so much!! (By the way, a group of us would love to return this year to take a look at some of the rare collections, particularly works of Galileo!)
November 4, 2012 at 4:05 pm
The people we met at the LOC, Science, Technology & Business Division, were remarkable. The passion and dedication to inform the public about the LOC history and resources was readily apparent throughout the time we spent together. Thank you Connie, Jennifer and Kris; I shared all I learned with my colleagues and district back at home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Connie you were right when you told us ‘you never know when you’ll discover something.’ I discovered a great wealth of resources relevant to us educators for our professional development growth and to better serve our students. The online resource dedicated to teachers, the Everyday Mysteries site, and the digital collection are portals to not only expand our capacity as teachers but also to interact with LOC librarians and collection specialists. I was deeply moved to hear the voice of Alfredo Romero singing in 1940 the alabado ‘Dios te Salve, Dolorosa’ (God Save Thee, Sorrowful Virgin) from Rio Hondo, New Mexico available through the digital collection (memory.loc.gov). Connecting with the past so vividly in the present, through that medium, easily transforms the meaning of history and cultural richness. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to spend the day with all of you.