Thomas Jefferson is the first high school to subscribe to the Journal of Visualized Experiments

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is the first post-secondary school to subscribe to JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

Though JoVE, the first and only academic video journal indexed in PubMed and MEDLINE, has video articles showing basic experimental procedures, the majority of the content showcases cutting edge technology out of Ivy League schools -- not the level of research one would usually associate with the high school curriculum.

"We're just not your typical high school," explains Dr. Andrea Cobb, Lab Director at Jefferson, listing off some of their equipment, "we have a DNA sequencer, mammalian cell culture facilities, we just got environmental growth culture facilities. We have a lot of toys. Stuff I didn't even have when I was in grad school."

Dr. Cobb, who teaches both biotechnology and microbiology at Jefferson, requested a subscription to JoVE because she thinks it will help her students learn to use the schools advanced equipment.

"This way they can see a procedure and practice it over and over again," she said. "A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a thousand teachers."

Ward Parry, Director of Library Relations at JoVE says the video journal is being used more and more as a teaching tool in the classroom.

"The association with Thomas Jefferson is really exciting," said Parry. "It illustrates that the demand for this form of visual learning is trickling down to a much younger student. Furthermore, being exposed to complicated experiments at such a young age bodes well for our future scientists."

Head Librarian Anne Applin, said she will be offering student workshops on JoVE for Jefferson students in the coming months.

About the Journal of Visualized Experiments:

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the first and only Pubmed and Medline indexed academic journal devoted to publishing research in the biological sciences in video format. Using an international network of videographers, JoVE films and edits videos of researchers performing new experimental techniques at top universities, allowing students and scientists to learn them much more quickly. As of September 2011 JoVE has released 55 monthly issues including over 1300 video-protocols on experimental approaches in developmental biology, neuroscience, microbiology and other fields.