Science Made Sensible: Teaching Graduate Students to Communicate Science and Middle Schoolers to Experiment Through Shared Classroom Experiences

提案#：0638135研究人员：Michael GainesInstitution：MiamiTitle大学：科学变得明智：教研究生交流科学，教中学生通过分享课堂经验进行实验这个项目将生态与环境学科的研究生研究员与中学科学教师配对，以提高前者的沟通技能和后者的探究式教学技能。研究员和教师参加关于学生学习、课程开发和有效沟通的暑期讲习班。他们在研究员研究领域的基础上制定和实施探究式教学计划，以培养中学生对科学的兴趣。科学合理地解决了三个问题。首先，研究生项目未能让未来的科学家做好清晰沟通的准备。在这个项目中，中学是进行这种培训的场所。其次，教师的科学知识限制了他们教授什么和如何教授。通过与研究生合作，教师学习将基于研究的、跨学科的和量化的活动融入课堂。第三，学生的学习成绩和对科学的兴趣在中学期间开始稳步下降。由研究生和教师团队形成的实践研究经验保持了中学生对科学的兴趣。需要对科学家的专业培训进行结构性改革，以扩大他们的职业选择范围。这项计划装备研究生研究员的职业，需要有能力有效地沟通复杂的主题，以不同的受众。

PROPOSAL #: 0638135PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Michael GainesINSTITUTION: University of MiamiTITLE: Science Made Sensible: Teaching graduate students to communicate science, and middle schoolers to experiment through shared classroom experiences This project pairs graduate student fellows in ecological and environmental disciplines with middle school science teachers to improve the communication skills of the former and the inquiry-based teaching skills of the latter. Fellows and teachers attend summer workshops on student learning, curriculum development, and effective communication. They develop and implement inquiry-based lesson plans built upon the fellows' research areas in order to foster middle school student interest in science. Science Made Sensible addresses three problems. First, graduate programs fail to prepare future scientists to communicate clearly. In this program, middle school serves as a venue for such training. Second, teachers' knowledge of science constrains what and how they teach. Partnering with graduate fellows, teachers learn to incorporate research-based, interdisciplinary and quantitative activities in the classroom. Third, student achievement and interest in science begins a steady decline during middle school. Hands-on research experiences shaped by graduate-fellow-and-teacher teams keep middle school students interested in science. Structural change in the professional training of scientists is needed to expand their array of career choices. This program equips graduate fellows for careers that require an ability to communicate complex subject matter effectively to diverse audiences.