Engineering.com explores OAS’ rich tradition of science research with CEO Mike Woytek and Director of Programs Angie McMurry.
During the early days of science fairs, a student once presented at a district science day in Northwest Ohio. He was so proud of his engineering design that he ran the prototype all morning while chuckling at his friends’ projects. When it came time to demonstrate his project to the science fair judges, the exhausted prototype was no longer working—preventing the student from moving on to state science day.
That student was Neil Armstrong, and the program he was vying for was part of the Ohio Academy of Science (OAS).
“Sometimes it’s not about the most famous alumni of our program, but about those who didn’t even make it in,” laughs Mike Woytek, CEO of OAS.
With a mission to foster curiosity, discovery and innovation, OAS is the leading organization for advancing STEM in Ohio. Through its constantly evolving collection of programs, the membership-based, volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization has made quite the journey from its beginnings in 1891 to where it is today.
OAS Through the Ages
OAS was founded in 1891 to provide opportunities for industry practitioners (i.e., scientists and academicians) to disseminate their research. In 1900, the organization began to publish the Ohio Journal of Science, a multidisciplinary journal that is currently in its 122nd volume. From its start, the academy was represented by some of the most distinguished scientists and innovators in Ohio—from Cleveland Clinic co-founder Dr George Crile to world-renowned ecologist Lucy Braun (who went on to become the first woman president of OAS).
OAS eventually expanded its program offerings to include pre-college students, and a science fair system was developed in the late ‘40s to engage students in inquiry-based research and engineering design.
“We’re celebrating our 74th anniversary of doing these rich experiences for students,” says Woytek. “It’s a rigorous component to their education. We really feel that students learn science the best by doing, and applying what they’re being taught.”
“From the educator perspective, by doing authentic research, students are learning skills that they’re going to be tested on for the rest of their life,” says Angie McMurry, Director of Programs at OAS. “Whether it is doing research on a car, house, life insurance. That ability to ask a question, come up with a testable hypothesis, look at credible information and synthesize it, is so critical in everyone’s life.”
OAS has several programs for promoting science education, including State Science Day, Buckeye Science and Engineering Fair, and the OAS Annual Meeting. The organization annually coordinates 17 district fairs for thousands of students across Ohio. In recent years, OAS’ programs have grown to include STEM and entrepreneurship through the Believe in Ohio program, which helps students commercialize their innovations.
Challenges Faced by OAS
Driving such a large scale of programs requires quite the lift in terms of outreach initiatives and community connections. OAS works with both formal educators (i.e., teachers, administrators and curriculum coordinators) and informal groups (e.g., 4-H, Girl Scouts, Ohio Department of Natural Resources). Volunteers include judges and Junior Academy Council members. Many volunteers also sponsor awards to help build the pipeline of next-generation talent to drive their industries. For instance, some medical associations may offer sponsored awards to encourage more students to pursue careers in the health sciences.
“As a statewide organization, we serve many different constituencies,” says Woytek. “Sometimes, delivering a cohesive message to all of those constituencies at the same time is very daunting.”
“I definitely think one of the biggest challenges we face is that there are a lot of organizations in the state—professional organizations, volunteer organizations—and oftentimes, I feel as if our organizations are running in individual silos instead of collaborating together,” adds McMurry.
Woytek and McMurry work tirelessly to build relationships with the objective of helping organizations reach a common goal rather than competing for the same resources.
Tackling a Global Pandemic
As if managing such a large operation isn’t difficult enough, OAS has also had to go up against a global pandemic. COVID-19 brought district fairs to a screeching halt in March 2020—a time that would have been OAS’ busiest.
“We did not want to lose those fairs and opportunities for the students,” says McMurry. “As a small yet mighty organization, we were able to pivot very quickly to put those fairs online.”
Woytek and McMurry soon realized that their events were too face-to-face driven, and that there was also a need to embrace the opportunities of the virtual world. OAS was introduced to ProjectBoard (owned and developed by engineering.com) Youth Science Canada, who had joined AJAS and ISEF in conducting multiple STEM fairs on the platform.
Opportunities in Change
Over the past year, OAS has already hosted three STEM events on ProjectBoard: the Buckeye Science and Engineering Fair, Annual Meeting, and Believe in Ohio.
“I love it,” says McMurry. “I have been so excited by the platform since the moment that I saw it. It’s probably the best thing that I’ve ever seen.”
ProjectBoard offers an opportunity for feedback to be provided to students earlier in the process—be it from mentors or peers throughout the world. McMurry believes that this can help master critical thinking and focus the project development process.
“That’s what real innovation is,” says McMurry. “You don’t wait until the very end to get feedback; you’re getting feedback all along the way.”
From McMurry’s experience, students typically don’t have enough opportunities to be creative in their own space.
“Everything is so structured in our education system that just giving students a piece of paper and telling them to draw the first thing that comes to mind—they would flip out because they would want a rubric with bullet-pointed directions on font size and color,” says McMurry. “That makes me sad because I have three kids of my own and I want to hold on to the creative spirit that they have.”
ProjectBoard has the potential to make online events engaging at a time where students are more comfortable within the virtual space.
“We’re living in a TikTok world right now,” says McMurry. “Our students have never not lived in a world where they haven’t scrolled or clicked, so there’s an opportunity for them to be able to take that creative makerspace and put it in a virtual platform.”
One major feature of the platform is that it allows for projects to become a living, breathing archive. Not only does this enable educators to differentiate and scaffold their lessons, but it also allows students to return to their projects, track their growth, and make further developments later.
“It’s very, very powerful,” says Woytek. “Somebody sees that idea, there’s a collaboration—and next thing you know, you have a new business or industry.”
On the professional development side of things, ProjectBoard can also help teachers connect to the community and industry for partnership opportunities.
“I think it’s an amazing teaching tool, an amazing communication and feedback tool, and an amazing career development tool,” sums up McMurry.
With a vision to make science equitable and accessible, OAS is considering the hybrid STEM fair model to be the new normal.
“It’s given us an opportunity to look in the rearview mirror and do a lot of self-evaluation,” says Woytek. “The partnership we’ve created with ProjectBoard is very, very helpful and it allows us to think creatively. It allows us to step back and reimagine, make improvements. Self-evaluation is never super-fun, and it’s never easy. It’s given us that opportunity and we’re hoping to grow from it.”
To learn more about the Ohio Academy of Science, visit their website.
