OTL has teamed up with NDSU graduate students to create quality videos to share virtually with high school students in our area and beyond. We call this initiative @ NDSU and its purpose is to share resources, creativity, and time with educators teaching in various specialty areas. This collaborative process provides learning and growth opportunities for all parties involved. Graduate students get to share their passion for specific areas of focus and, in-turn, gain experience creating short educational videos. Alternatively, high school students have the opportunity to see some of the brightest NDSU students displaying their specialized knowledge and skills. It is OTL’s hope that the graduate student’s passion will inspire their younger counterparts to explore new concepts and career areas that they perhaps had never before considered.

This year, @ NDSU focused on the broad field of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). We believe that STEM instructors in the high school classroom will find these videos useful when covering various topics over the course of the school year. These videos may also be a fun summer activity for students who enjoy specific topics and continued learning.

Pharmacy is Sweet by Taylor Praska, Leah Lowenberg, Audry Long, & Rose Yang – School of Pharmacy

This video’s purpose is to educate students about pharmacy by using candy-based experiments. It was created using a TikTok format with fun transitions to keep students engaged. Additionally, the video is comprised of three sections that portray different areas of pharmacy: non-sterile compounding, sterile compounding, and medication forms. The non-sterile compounding portion of the video shows how to compound an “ointment” using Fun Dip candy and lotion and showing students how to compound their own candy flavored Chapstick. In the sterile compounding portion of the video, students will learn how IVs are made in a hospital setting using sugar and water. The final portion of the video will teach students about the different types of medication forms by comparing them to candy. Yum! These fun quick learning activities will prove to be sweet learning tools for your students!

The Basics of Climate Change by Jon Bell-Clement – School of Natural Resource Sciences

This is an informative video about climate change and its impact on the environment. The video includes a brief history of climate change, explains terms and concepts, and answers the important question, “Why should we care about climate change?” Students of all ages and levels will enjoy the many facts and great video content included in this presentation.

How Dark is the Night Sky? by Brianna Santangelo, Lina Alhalhooly, Safana Ismael, Wathsala Jayawardna, Nekeisha Johnson, Tim Twohig, & Kurt Vandonselaar – Physics Department & STEM Education

This workshop video highlights the impact of light pollution and demonstrates how students can measure these effects in their hometowns. The video begins with an introduction about how students can find constellations, how light pollution affects what we can see in the night sky, and other environmental impacts of light pollution. Next, students are shown how to measure the light pollution in their hometown in both a bright parking lot in Fargo, N.D. and an unlit field outside of Fargo using “Globe at Night” (see below link for details about the organization). Lastly, the students are shown where they can find the next data collection dates for “Globe at Night” and how to report what they see on the website. The video will include all data collection for 2021 and show the students how to find future collection dates. Globe at Night can be located here: https://globeatnight.org/about/

Eyes on the Sky That Save You Money by Bleck Tita, Billy Ram, & Nitin Rai – Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department

This video provides students with information on how simple drones are used in agriculture to generate important data that upon interpretation can provide many recommendations that improve farm management. The aim of this workshop video is to expose students to the fun side of agricultural engineering, which includes using innovative tools to break down complex farm problems and boost productivity. Anything with drones ought to catch their attention, and there’s plenty of drone action in this workshop video!

We hope that these educational videos prove useful for teachers and students alike. A complete playlist of the STEM videos is available on the NDSU Office of Teaching and Learning YouTube page. The next @ NDSU series focuses on the visual arts and graphic design and is scheduled for November of 2021. Continue to watch for new videos throughout the 2021-2022 school year.

About the Author:

Holly DeVries is a graduate assistant in the Office of Teaching and Learning and is  pursuing her M.Ed. in clinical mental health counseling at NDSU. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead and has worked in the music industry on both East and West Coasts before returning to the Midwest. Holly is passionate about diversity and inclusion and is specifically interested in LGBTQ+ advocacy.