Biology Take-Out: Hands-on Science Activity Kits

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Science Take-Out kits are complete, prepackaged, ready-to-use products - including all instructions and supplies for engaging students in hands-on science learning. These innovative science kits do not require teacher preparation, and they do not require laboratory equipment. Science Take-Out kits provide teachers with a convenient and cost-effective way for using hands-on activities to engage students in understanding science content, applications, and careers. The goals of this SBIR Phase II project are: to provide evidence that Science Take-Out kits have a positive impact on high school students' understanding of biology concepts and processes; to increase teachers' awareness of Science Take-Out kits through workshops led by "educator-presenters", and; to investigate methods for scaling up Science Take-Out's kit development and manufacturing capacity. During this Phase II SBIR project we will: "Develop and field test reliable and valid pre/post assessments for eight different Science Take-Out kits to determine the impact that Science Take-Out kits have on student learning." Create a method for integrating the kit development process with the assessment development process. "Develop and evaluate workshop materials that will be used by 30 "educator-presenters" to lead Science Take-Out workshops at science conferences throughout the United States in order to increase teacher awareness of and adoption of Science Take-Out kits." Develop and evaluate operating systems to scale up the manufacturing process while maintaining kit quality and cost effectiveness. This proposed project is significant because Science Take-Out kits increase teachers' use of hands-on activities to engage diverse student populations in understanding science content, applications, and careers. This project will also provide teachers with quality professional development programs led by peers in order to make them aware of Science Take-Out kits and comfortable with introducing this new content into their existing curriculum. This proposed project is innovative because Science Take-Out kits allow teachers to easily integrate hands- on science experiences and biomedical science concepts into various topic areas of their existing curriculum. In addition, the innovative characteristics of Science Take-Out kits will increase the likelihood of adoption of these new curricular materials by busy teachers, which will further expand the impact of this project on student learning.