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

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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.