APPLETON (NBC26) — Three Lawrence University professors are helping high school students all over the country, using a virtual tool to bring the college classroom to students’ screens.
Gustavo Fares and Rosa Tapia, both Spanish professors, and Beth De Stasio, Raymond H. Herzog professor of science, were all asked by College Board to create instructional videos on the subjects they teach.
"We were asked separately," said Tapia. "We kind of found out by accident. ‘Oh you were asked too?’ It just makes me tremendously proud.”
The videos will be a part of the virtual YouTube series, AP Daily. More than 8.5 million students have already watched the AP Daily videos, said College Board.
By the time they’re all released, the channel will have more than 200 videos.
"To have a taste of what a class in college," said Fares. "It’s a very productive way to make the jump between high school and college.”
De stasio wanted to make a difference for high school students, she said.
“I wanted students to be able to see that a variety of kinds of people can do science," she said. "As a woman in science, I want to be a role model for young women in science who maybe have never known that women could be scientists.”
Tapia reached out to some high school teachers before creating her virtual lessons, she said.
“What would be useful for you?," she remembered asking. "What would be useful for your class? How did the spring go?”
AP Daily uploads videos every day, releasing them as the curriculum goes on.
“I don’t have any feedback from the students," said Fares. "But I know that the AP Daily web site is very popular and it has had lots of traffic.”
De stasio hopes the videos do help high schoolers, and sees this as just one of the good things that has come out of virtual learning, she said.
“There have been both difficulties, challenges, but also some rewards," said De Stasio. "The fact that we can bring people in to our classroom from all over the world is a huge advantage, and one that we hadn’t been taking advantage of much before, and I think probably will continue.”
