July 2005 ISSUE
our volunteers
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Powerful Presenter |
Outreach Volunteer Plugs Children Into Science
Editor’s Note: Ron Zieber, P.Eng., became an APEGGA
member 14 years ago after graduating from the University of Alberta with a bachelor
of science degree in electrical engineering. He is currently the process control
manager for Weyerhaeuser Structurwood in Drayton Valley. Ron lives in Drayton
Valley with his wife (who is also a professional engineer) and two daughters,
ages two and four.
Here’s a story from our Communications Department about the great contributions he makes to the classroom, children’s understanding of scientific principles — and the future of APEGGA’s professions.
BY KIRSTEN MILNER
Public Relations Coordinator
For the past 11 years Ron Zieber, P.Eng., has been delivering electrifying presentations as an Outreach volunteer. He joined what was earlier called the Career Counselling Committee, delivering presentations and contributing to the committee’s activities including the responsibilities as chair.
He is still active in the classroom, an experience he finds tremendously rewarding from both a personal and a professional perspective. “The level of appreciation shown to presenters by teachers and students is a real testimony to the need for science professionals to become involved in sharing their knowledge in classrooms,” Ron says.
Ron’s interest in engineering developed at an early age. “I loved to take apart devices to see how they worked,” he says. “Sometime between Grade 5 and Grade 6, a friend told me what his engineer uncle did for work. I do not ever remember meeting this uncle, but I decided early that engineering seemed to be the most interesting career option.”
In many ways, Ron’s profession is an extension of the electrical and computer hobbies he had as a child. “Much to the chagrin of my parents, I was often found taking apart anything that worked — and subsequently discovering that the device no longer worked after reassembly,” Ron confesses.
“With my parent’s encouragement, this interest progressed to taking apart things that did work, and then also successfully reassembling them. At some point, I was able to disassemble things that did not work and make them work!”
Ron has transferred his fascination with how things work into his presentations. One approach he uses to engage students’ attention is “take-apart sessions.” Students bring to class electrical items that no longer work. In groups of four or five, they take the items apart to find out how they work, discover (if possible) what is wrong, describe as many parts as possible and then, using a set of APEGGA’s hand-powered generators, get motors to spin, gears and pulleys to move, and lights to shine.
“To my surprise, all kids —not just students who like science — really engage in this type of learning. Over the years, I have had hundreds of students do this exercise, and it is always astonished me how many learning opportunities spring out of this type of interactive endeavour.”
Another teaching tool Ron uses is the learning kit APEGGA and our volunteers have developed for classroom presentations. Kits are available for almost every major science topic taught in the Alberta school curriculum, and Ron frequently borrows the electricity kit for the electricity unit taught in Grade 5.
He also learns from his students. “I find that the questions students ask are a fascinating window into their understanding of a subject,” says Ron. “Listening carefully to their questions is such an important component of improving future presentations.”
Students are not the only ones who benefit from the presentations. Teachers appreciate the opportunity to gain additional insights into the particular science unit they are teaching.
“I have been teaching for a ‘hundred’ years and I have never had a presenter of this calibre in my classroom,” wrote Lona Ani, a Grade 5 teacher at Grandview Heights School in Edmonton, in her evaluation of Ron’s presentation. “His material was varied, well-paced, he had lots of props and things for the students to do — he really connected with them.”
This connection is definitely a two-way current. “Every time I go into a classroom, the students amaze me with their keen interest and insights,” says Ron. “Stimulating their curiosity and seeing their enthusiasm are really the rewards for APEGGA volunteers.”