A Model Teacher Enhancement Program to Encourage Experience-Based Instruction in Human Genetics in Middle School Science

冷泉港实验室将承担一项为期三年的计划，培训纽约和马里兰州的336名中学教师教授一门15-20小时的课程——探索人类遗传学。研讨会的前提是没有特定的遗传学经验，并将科学作为解决问题的冒险。人类遗传学与传统中学对人类健康的强调很好地结合在一起，实现了批判性思维的目标，并鼓励以发现为基础的学习。每个州将培训12对班主任；第二年，他们将在12个“第二轮”区域讲习班上指导另外144名教师。所有参与者都将获得一个教学包，其中包含在他们学校启动基于体验的项目所需的文本和所有必要的实验室材料。培训讲习班几个月后举行的后续活动将进一步鼓励与会者之间的执行和联网。鉴于国家对人类基因组测序的承诺，以及随之而来的个人和社会影响，该计划是适当的；它是DNA扫盲计划的一部分，该计划将冷泉港实验室传统的研究生培训任务扩展到大学预科水平。《探索人类遗传学》遵循的是DNA科学课程，这门课程已经教授给了24个州的1600名高中教师。美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）对这个高中项目的支持得到了高度的利用，奠定了这个国家对生物技术和遗传学教育的最大承诺的基础。同样，这个项目将作为一个国家模式，利用人类遗传学作为一种手段来说明中学水平的科学问题。相当于国家科学基金会奖金的40.6%作为费用分摊。

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will undertake a three-year program to train 336 middle school instructors in New York and Maryland to teach a 15-20 hour unit, Exploring Human Genetics. The workshop presupposes no specific experience in genetics and focuses on science as a problem-solving venture. Human genetics meshes well with the traditional middle school emphasis on human health, fulfills critical thinking objectives, and encourages discovery-based learning. Twelve pairs of lead teachers will be trained in each state; they, in turn, will instruct an additional 144 teachers at 12 "second-round" regional workshops the following year. All participants will be provided with a teaching kit containing text and all necessary lab materials needed to initiate an experience-based program at their school. A follow-up held several months after the training workshop will further encourage implementation and networking between participants. This program is appropriate in light of the national commitment to sequence the human genome, with its attendant personal and social implications; it is part of the DNA Literacy Program, which extends the traditional postgraduate training mission of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to the precollege level. Exploring Human Genetics follows the DNA Science curriculum, which has been taught to 1,600 high school teachers in 24 states. The National Science Foundation support of the high school program has been highly leveraged, forming the basis of what is arguably the largest commitment to biotechnology and genetics education in this country. Similarly, this project will serve as a national model for using human genetics as a means to illustrate scientific problem-solving at the middle school level. An amount equivalent to 40.6% of the NSF award is being contributed as cost-sharing.