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

冷泉港实验室将开展一个为期三年的项目，培训纽约和马里兰州的336名中学教师，教授15-20个小时的单元--探索人类遗传学。研讨会的前提是没有遗传学方面的具体经验，而是把科学作为一种解决问题的冒险活动。人类遗传学很好地契合了传统中学对人类健康的强调，实现了批判性思维目标，并鼓励基于发现的学习。12对带头教师将在每个州接受培训；他们将在下一年的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套教材，其中包含在他们学校启动以经验为基础的项目所需的文本和所有必要的实验材料。在培训讲习班后几个月举行的后续行动将进一步鼓励学员之间的执行和建立联系。考虑到国家对人类基因组测序的承诺，这一计划是恰当的，它具有个人和社会意义；它是DNA扫盲计划的一部分，该计划将冷泉港实验室的传统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DNA科学课程，该课程已向24个州的1600名高中教师教授。国家科学基金会对这个高中项目的支持得到了高度的利用，这构成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，这个项目将成为使用人类遗传学作为说明中学阶段科学解决问题的手段的全国典范。一笔相当于国家科学基金会奖励的40.6%的金额将作为费用分摊提供。

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.