Henry has also developed outreach programs to enrich the skills of high school teachers in Pittsburgh public schools. One of the biggest outreach projects, she says, has been a series of workshops to teach high school teachers to use computers in science classes. When they first came to the workshops, "many of the teachers felt uncomfortable using even small personal computers" because they had received their training before computers came into widespread use.
While she believes that "younger faculty should spend their time at their own research," Henry says that "people like myself, who are further along in our own careers, can afford to give their time" to improving science literacy at the elementary and secondary levels. One does not have to devote tremendous numbers of hours to such efforts, she notes: "You can give a workshop, speak to high school students, or give a demonstration. These are the types ...
