Faculty of Science launching new Saturday Science Café on January 23

The busy schedule of any academic term provides only rare moments for students to chat and collaborate with mentors outside of regular classroom and lab hours. Recognizing that students need more opportunities for such interaction, the Faculty of Science at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is unveiling a new initiative called the Saturday Science Café.

The Café will provide UOIT Science students with a weekly opportunity for academic support outside of the regular work week. Beginning January 23, the sessions will run each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Science Building, Room 3230 and be hosted by student mentors from the Faculty of Science. The student mentors can provide one-on-one and group assistance in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics at any year level. Free coffee and hot chocolate will be provided.

“The Café provides an environment where students can work and collaborate informally,” says Dr. Sean Forrester, Associate Professor (Biology), UOIT Faculty of Science (FSci). “In addition to being busy with labs and other assignments, many of our students commute or have employment commitments on weeknights. Seeking extra assistance for course material during the week may be difficult, so we hope these sessions will offer an important new option to seek assistance, review course material, work on assignments and learn from fellow classmates.”

The Faculty of Science will gather feedback from students throughout the term to help shape the evolution of the Saturday Science Café.

“Learning science and math takes a lot of independent effort outside of class and students can feel very isolated,” says Dr. Greg Crawford, Dean, FSci. “We already have a number of great learning supports on campus, like tutorials, office hours, tutoring services and the Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program. However, we thought the Science Café idea might be a welcome addition for those who want to (or need to) put the study time in, could use some extra help and maybe a little camaraderie, and can come in on a Saturday. We also hope it will help more students be a part of the science community here at UOIT. You might even see the occasional science or math professor show up.”  

“This this is an amazing initiative and demonstrates the Faculty of Science’s commitment to enriching the lives of our student body,” says Chad Groves, President, UOIT Science Council. “We are so excited to be involved in the new Saturday Science Café that the Science Council will provide a full pizza lunch and some giveaways on the launch date, Saturday, January 23. We also are in the process of putting together study kits for students to use and we hope to expand them over the course of the semester.”

For more information about the Saturday Science Café, please contact Dr. Sean Forrester at 905.721.8668, ext. 2937.