BIORETS: Genes & the Environment: Research Experiences for Teachers from Rural & Tribal Schools

这项授予北达科他大学的BIORETS站点奖位于新泽西州的大福克斯，将在夏季为8名教师提供8周的支持。2024年至2026年将招聘三批教师。教师将参加为期六周的密集研究体验，然后是两周的课程开发。整个学年都将继续提供支持。该计划旨在显著增加农村和部落学生接触分子生物学和科学研究的机会。为确保实现环境和发展目标，招聘工作将侧重于大平原北部地区农村和部落学校的中学教师，这是一个人口较少的大地区，那里的小型学校是常态。为了解决差异，这个项目将为教师提供环境生物学方面的实际研究经验，因为它与基因调控有关。教师将向其他教育工作者介绍他们的课程和成果，从而扩大该计划的影响。教师将参与生物系和病理学系持续进行的研究项目。教师将被邀请通过NSF ETAP(教育和培训申请)系统申请该计划。在开始该项目之前，将向教师提供有关研究的信息，并通过Zoom会议向他们的导师介绍。整个暑期，教师将学习实验室安全和道德/负责任的研究行为，并参加关于教育理论和特定项目实验室技术、实验设计、数据收集、分析和演示的研讨会。教师还将接受在课堂活动中使用基于分子生物学的工具包的培训。课程开发将重点放在整合他们的暑期研究项目上。计划结束后，PI、导师和教师将通过Zoom会面，帮助上课并讨论挑战。该计划将为教师提供工具包以及研究用品和设备。项目评估将包括对暑期项目和学年项目本身的评估，以及新课程对学生学习和对STEM的态度的影响。该奖项由生物科学局(BIO)的生物基础设施司(DBI)和综合活动办公室(OIA)的刺激竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This BIORETS Site award to the University of North Dakota, located in Grand Forks, ND, will support eight teachers for eight weeks during the summer. Three cohorts of teachers will be recruited from 2024-2026. Teachers will participate in an intensive six-week research experience followed by two weeks of curriculum development. Support will continue throughout the academic year. This program aims to significantly increase the exposure of rural and tribal students to molecular biology and scientific research. To ensure advancement of DEI goals, recruitment will focus on secondary teachers from rural and tribal schools in the Northern Great Plains region, a large area with a low population, where small schools are the norm. To address disparities, this program will provide the teachers actual research experiences in environmental biology as it pertains to gene regulation. Teachers will present their curriculum and outcomes to other educators, thus extending the impact of the program.Teachers will be involved in ongoing research projects in the Biology and Pathology departments. Teachers will be invited to apply to the program through the NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application) system. Before starting the program, teachers will be provided information about the research and introduced to their mentors via Zoom meetings. Throughout the summer, the teachers will learn laboratory safety and ethics/responsible conduct of research, and attend workshops on education theory and project-specific laboratory techniques, experimental design, data collection, analysis, and presentation. Teachers will also be trained in using molecular biology-based kits in their classroom activities. Curriculum development will focus on integrating their summer research project. Post-program, the PIs, mentors and teachers will meet via Zoom to assist with lessons and discuss challenges. The program will provide the teachers with the kits and research supplies and equipment. Program assessment will include both evaluation of the summer and academic year program itself, as well as the impact of the new curriculum on student learning and attitudes about STEM. This award is jointly supported by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) in the Office of Integrative Activities (OIA).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.