Hands-on experiments and laboratories have been developed and used for workshops for high school students and K-12 and community college educators as part of recruiting strategies to bring people into chemical and paper technology and engineering degrees and industries. Summer institute and workshop activities have included large pilot-scale experiments conducted in technology training or engineering laboratory facilities and small-scale experiments that can be integrated into the classroom. The large scale experiments have a strong impact on the workshop participants; however they cannot be readily transferred back into classroom and career counseling situations. Small scale experiments tend to not provide the wonder and excitement of new technologies. Workshop best practices and assessments will be discussed with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of large and small scale experiences, and the proper balance between them.

Five-day, three-day, and one-day workshops were conducted in 2005, 2006, and 2007 at Alabama Southern Community College (Thomasville AL), Lower Columbia College (Longview WA), and Auburn University (Auburn AL). Faculty and industry partners from these institutions developed and delivered the workshops as part of the National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology Training (npt)2, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Center.

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