Radon is known to exist in Dayton, Ohio, where Sinclair Community College is located, but no one had studied it until Sinclair developed a research project on it as part of a service learning course. During the first quarter of the course students met once a week in class and spent several hours outside of class collecting information on radon. The students used their research to produce material explaining radon and its hazards to residents whose houses would be tested. Students also wrote lesson plans and designed pre- and post-tests for the next quarter when they would teach a local high school chemistry class for one hour once a week.

During the next quarter the Sinclair students taught once a week to an advanced chemistry class at Belmont High School. Sinclair student grouped with high school students to distribute 40 radon test kits to residents who has requested the testing. Test results are confidential so the students did not learn of the results, but did know that 15 of the 40 kits had been sent off for processing.

Grades for Sinclair students were based on attendance, research papers, and class participation.

Contact: Carolyn McGill at 513.449.2771

This information originally appeared in “”Science and Society: Redefining the Relationship”" by Stephen Miller. Published by Campus Compact, 1996.