Science Take-Out Kits for Neurobiology Education

描述（由申请人提供）：神经生物学内容通常在中学课堂上覆盖非常有限的基础上，目前很少有实验室活动让学生参与动手神经生物学探究活动。此外，许多教师将实践活动纳入课程所需的时间和资源有限。该项目将创造新的潜力，显着增加神经科学教育，通过使用廉价的，预先组装的科学外卖包，包括所有需要的材料和用品动手，主动学习的方便。该项目的目的是开发，试点测试和评估六个新的科学外卖工具包，专注于神经生物学的使用。我们将通过教师焦点小组和校内使用来测试和评估这些工具包。在第一阶段SBIR项目中，我们将：“开发六种不同的科学外卖“神经生物学”工具包（包括学生说明，教师说明和工具包材料），与生物课程的各个主题领域相关。 “开发和使用评估工具，以确定科学外卖神经生物学套件是否对学生的学习和职业意识产生积极影响。 “组织五个教师焦点小组，评估科学外卖神经生物学工具包的原型。 “邀请30名中学教师（每组5名）与学生试用“科学外卖”神经生物学教材套及评估工具。 “邀请一百二十名中学教师（每组二十名）与学生实地测试“科学外卖”神经生物学教材套，并收集教材套对学生学习的影响数据。这个拟议的项目是重要的，因为它将对教师的能力产生积极的影响，使用动手活动，让不同的学生群体了解神经生物学的内容，应用和职业。这个建议的项目是创新的，因为在SBIR第一阶段项目期间开发的科学外卖包将允许教师将神经生物学概念融入生物课程的各个领域，包括“非传统”主题领域，如进化，生态学和遗传学。此外，“科学教材套”的创新特色，亦会增加忙碌的忙碌采用这些新教材的机会，从而进一步扩大这项计划对学生学习的影响。 公共卫生相关性：该项目与公共卫生的相关性在于，科学外卖包将为教师提供动手神经生物学课程和实验室活动，这将有助于学生掌握科学主题并培养他们的科学推理技能。本计画所开发的科学外卖套件将增进学生对神经科学的了解，以及他们对神经科学事业的知识。使用这些教材的教师和学生也将更好地了解涉及其健康的决定。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neurobiology content is typically covered on a very limited basis in secondary school classrooms and there are few currently available laboratory activities that engage students in hands-on neurobiology inquiry activities. Also, many teachers have limited time and resources needed for integrating hands-on activities into their curriculum. This project will create new potential for significantly increasing neuroscience education by using the convenience of inexpensive, pre-assembled Science Take-Out kits that include all needed materials and supplies for hands-on, active learning. The purpose of this project is to develop, pilot test, and evaluate the use of six new Science Take-Out kits that focus on neurobiology. We will test and evaluate the kits through teacher focus groups and in-school use. During this Phase I SBIR project we will: " Develop six different Science Take-Out "neurobiology" kits that (including student instructions, teacher instructions, and kit materials) that correlate with various topic areas of the biology curriculum. "Develop and use assessment tools to determine if Science Take-Out neurobiology kits have a positive impact on student learning and career awareness. "Conduct five teacher focus groups to evaluate prototypes of the Science Take-Out neurobiology kits. "Engage a group of 30 secondary school teachers (5 per kit) to pilot test the Science Take-Out neurobiology kits and assessment instruments with their students. "Engage a group of 120 secondary school teachers (20 per kit) to field test the Science Take-Out neurobiology kits with their students and collect data on the impact of the kits on student learning. This proposed project is significant because it will have a positive impact on teachers' abilities to use hands-on activities to engage diverse student populations in understanding neurobiology content, applications, and careers. This proposed project is innovative because the Science Take-Out kits to be developed during this SBIR Phase I project will allow teachers to integrate neurobiology concepts into various areas of the biology curriculum, including "nontraditional" topic areas such as evolution, ecology and genetics. 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. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The relevance of this project to public health is that the Science Take-Out kits will provide teachers with access to hands-on neurobiology lessons and lab activities which will help their students' master scientific subject matter and develop their scientific reasoning skills. The Science Take-Out kits to be developed in this project will increase student's understanding of neuroscience their knowledge of neuroscience careers. Teachers and their students who use these educational materials will also become better informed on decisions involving their health.