SJSU Research Team Awarded $1.1 Million from the National Science Foundation
An interdisciplinary research team from San José State including Associate Professor of Animation/Illustration and Design David Chai has been awarded $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation to launch the “Green Ninja Film Academy (GENIE),” an educational initiative that will leverage well-established research on motivation to build student competencies in science, engineering design, media technology, and communications.
Focused on the adventures of the Green Ninja – a superhero – GENIE uses youth-oriented and humorous stories to pique students’ interest in the climate and to develop their understanding of the science around climate change. GENIE builds on the Green Ninja Project, an established SJSU effort that uses short films to educate students about science and the environment. Green Ninja short films are popular on YouTube, with a current viewership of over 1,800,000. Viewers include K-12 teachers, who use Green Ninja films and accompanying educational materials to provide students with hands-on learning experiences linked to science competencies.
Speaking about his enthusiasm for the project, David Chai says, “I love working on the Green Ninja project for several reasons. Growing up, I learned a lot of important things from unexpected places. Saturday morning cartoons taught me how a bill gets to Capitol Hill, the functions of conjunctions, and where Lolly could get adverbs. I learned that only I could prevent forest fires from Smoky Bear, to give a hoot and not pollute from Woodsy the Owl, and how to help take a bite out of crime from McGruff the Crime Dog. The Green Ninja’s goal is to not only provide teachers and students with learning materials for teaching environmental topics, but similarly to present them in fun, memorable, and engaging ways.”
“Equally exciting for me is our recent grant,” he continues. “It will allow us to take student engagement to another level by having K-12 students not only study our learning topics, but become actively engaged by providing them filmmaking concepts and materials, so they can make their own Green Ninja films.”
During the three-year project, 60 teachers and at least 2,000 middle school students will directly participate in the GENIE project, with additional participation from parents, friends, and teachers who attend the Green Ninja Film Festival. Grounded in science and data, GENIE will help teachers prepare to implement the Common Core and Next Generation Science standards using climate change as a context.
“The thing I love most,” Chai says, “is the collaboration between all of the people who make it possible. We’re combining scientists, educators, filmmakers, actors, animators, and concept artists; we’re adding the ‘A’ in ‘Arts’ to ‘STEM’; going full STEAM ahead. I think it’s one of the most cross-disciplinary and exciting collaborations on campus.”
Joining Chai as principal investigators of the NSF grant are SJSU professors Eugene Cordero (Meteorology and Climate Science), Ellen Metzger (Geology and Science Ed), Grinell Smith (Elementary Education), and Elizabeth Walsh (Meteorology and Climate Science and Science Education). More information about the project can be found at www.greenninja.org.
