Hands-On Methods to Educate High School Students about Cancer Research

Offering high school students'exposure to university levellaboratory research encourages interest in science, develops criticalthinking, and prepares the new generation for college and careers.In this study, we report on the development of an immersive 2-weeksummer camp with the aim of training high school students in cancerresearch. Carefully selected laboratory methods were chosen to yielddistinct visible results with the sole goal of making complex conceptsmore accessible and engaging to high school students. The 20 participantswere randomly selected from a bigger pool of candidates without anyprior registration requirements, such as grades or prior lab experience.Survey questionnaires given to students on the first day of the programoutlined the background of each student and helped the instructorsto better understand their goals and expectations. The postcamp survey,which measured satisfaction and potential areas for improvement, wascompleted by students after their departure from the campus and servedas an unbiased evaluation of our program. Considering the feedbackfrom students, our program was very successful. Whereas informationfor such programs is not broadly available, research laboratoriesand future summer camps that aim to train high school or undergraduatestudents with minimal laboratory experience may utilize this pedagogyas a template for their programs.