Patrick Ross, Southwestern College professor of biology and chair of the natural science division, has returned to his teaching duties at the college after spending the  fall semester on sabbatical at Exploration Place in Wichita.  

While at Exploration Place, Ross participated in a number of activities connected with the museum’s education staff.  

“I was surprised at the degree museums are involved with education,” Ross says.  “The technical term is informal education.  You don’t have students bolted in their seats for 50 minutes.  People are coming in for a variety of reasons but the control of the visit is up to the visitor.  If you’re not doing anything interesting they will move on.  You can put up cool pictures and gobs of text but the learning experience is ultimately up to them.”  

Ross had opportunities to teach a wide range of age groups, from third and fourth graders to senior citizens.  

For example, Wichita has an event, “Senior Wednesdays,” that gives senior citizens the opportunity to visit museums and other area attractions. During the fall, Ross was the key speaker for this activity at Exploration Place, and talked about their fall exhibit on parasites.  

“That went over very well,” Ross says.  “It was a 50-minute lecture based Powerpoint presentation, a format I often use in my classes.  However, my next assignment stretched me considerably as I had to design an appropriate, hands-on activity about diseases and germs for elementary through high school kids.  This was my first really big assignment.  With the kindergarteners we used glow in the dark dust to teach proper hand washing technique and how sharing toys could lead to the spread of a disease.  With the high school students, we simulated the spread of an epidemic and talked about how vaccinations work to stop the spread of disease.”

Soon after this, one educator left their traveling education operation so Ross filled in for four weeks and was known as Professor Pat as he taught third and fourth graders.  Ross traveled to Wellington, Belle Plaine, Conway Springs, and Oxford.

“That was the most fun I had,” Ross says.  “I enjoyed all of my fall at Exploration Place, but working with those little kids was great.  They are so curious; they are not bored or jaded toward science.  One exercise we did involved watching a candy dissolve in a cup of water.  In those five minutes, that was the most fascinating thing on the planet.”

An educator was eventually hired for this position but Ross wasn’t too disappointed:  They hired a former student of his, Southwestern College graduate Victoria Mitchell.

Ross beamed as he spoke about his role during Halloween at Exploration Place.  Zombies took over the museum for a two-day event titled “Museum of the Undead.”  Adults toured the museum and witnessed Ross dissecting a zombie.  Each room had something to startle the audience.  For Ross, it was an explosion of ‘blood’ during the dissection.  

Ross’s final chore was to prepare for the next traveling exhibit.  

“They are constantly re-inventing themselves,” Ross says.  “For each new national exhibit, they want programming--new lessons, new shows, something to connect that exhibit to our area.  Wildlife Rescue is the latest exhibit.  Jan Luth (Exploration Place president) is fascinated with the lesser prairie chicken and she gave me the charge of coming up with an exhibit to tell that story.”

The exhibit’s grand opening occurred Jan. 24.

“From the day Pat arrived he just fit right in,” Luth says.  “Having him take his sabbatical with Exploration Place helped provide our staff with professional development by a Ph.D. scientist.   Several of our key projects aligned with his expertise.  Pat jumped right in and did research to make a Kansas connection for our current national traveling exhibit ‘Wildlife Rescue.’ The museum added exhibit components, is having a series of guest speakers, and is offering innovative spring break field expeditions for students thanks to his research and connections.  He opened new doors for our museum and engaged our staff in thought provoking discussions.  We will miss him.”

So as Ross begins the spring semester back at Southwestern College, he feels he has a fresh outlook thanks to his fall at Exploration Place.

“I feel re-energized,” Ross says.  “The time away showed me that this place (Southwestern College) does just fine without me.  It gave me a little distance, a little altitude.  Maybe I don’t have to sweat the small stuff quite as much.  There is a teaching model used by Exploration Place that stresses engagement.  Before you can teach students anything you have to grab their attention.  I didn’t worry much about that before.  My students have to be in class, they are captives, so to speak.  But I now realize that the learning process will work so much better if they want to come to class.  A little entertainment can help liven up any lesson, whether it be at the museum or in my lectures.  If I can find ways to get them more revved up and I am trying to do more of that, I think it will be better for my students.  I want my students to enjoy the learning process as much as I do.”

Ross is grateful for the opportunity but at the same time, he did miss his students and colleagues.  

“I am thankful for all my colleagues, but especially Michael Tessmer and Rick Cowlishaw,” Ross says.  Early in the semester when I would drop in to check on things, Michael would almost physically chase me out of the building.  He was trying to make sure I got as much of a respite from the day-to-day activities of the college as he had on his sabbatical in China, even though I was just in Wichita and coming back home each night to Winfield.   Rick took care of the division while I was gone and he made sure the big things like our alumni meeting in November and our career workshop day went off just fine, which they did.  He did great.  I have such good colleagues in the natural sciences division and I had no misgivings about their ability to run the place, I had a lot of trust and that isn’t always the case in academia.”
Sabbaticals are available for professors at Southwestern for the purpose of professional enrichment.  They may apply for these sabbaticals every seven years.