Mentoring and Community Building
A primary tool for accomplishing the goals of the program was weaving a “web of mentoring,” not only close mentoring of students by their teachers, but also student to student and faculty to faculty (who support one another as they try pedagogical experiments). Curricular and pedagogical changes are both substantial and nearly universal. The GSP was also greatly influential in the design of new science facilities at Grinnell College. While the initial impetuous for the effort came from some key individuals, the execution and continuous improvement lies within virtually all science faculty as well as student life professionals. This high level of involvement, including curricular development, community building activities, and mentoring, insures sustainability. We have also established a Science Learning Center which, along with the Math Lab, trains peer mentors to support and assist students.
