Biology Take-Out: Hands-On Science Activity Kits

描述(由申请人提供)：第一阶段SBIR提案的总体目标是测试高中生生物外卖科学活动试剂盒的可行性。这些预先组装的工具包将允许学生在各种教育环境中获得实践科学经验，而不需要实验室设施、设备或教师准备。动手实验经验可以帮助高中生掌握科学主题，发展他们的科学推理技能，并增加他们对科学的兴趣。不幸的是，对于大多数美国高中生来说，科学实验室体验的质量很差。许多高中科学教师很难为他们的学生提供实践的科学实验室体验，因为他们获得实验室设施、用品或资源的机会有限。其他障碍包括教师准备时间不足或在准备和实施实验室活动方面缺乏教师经验。对于城市、农村和替代教育环境中的教育工作者来说，这些障碍大大增加了。生物外卖工具包将帮助高中生物教师克服这些障碍，为学生提供方便地进行动手实验室活动。这些工具包将包含高中水平的动手科学活动，打包供学生个人使用，并将需要最少的教师准备时间。生物外卖工具包将不需要进入实验室设施，使它们适合在替代教育环境中使用。学生说明将包括吸引人的插图，并将以适合阅读能力中等到低于平均水平的学生的水平编写。生物外卖工具包有可能被以下教师广泛使用：接触实验室设施和设备的机会有限；没有时间和/或技能做实验室准备；难以为缺课的学生提供补习实验室；需要在家庭教学或替代教育环境中为学生提供动手实验室体验。SBIR第一阶段提案的目标是：1.测试生物学外卖试剂盒组件设计格式的可行性--包括学生对实验室程序的说明、教师信息、试剂盒用品和包装；2.评估影响其潜在采用的生物学外卖试剂盒的特性。在第一阶段的SBIR项目中，我们将开发至少五种不同的生物学外卖活动试剂盒。然后，我们将与纽约州50名高中理科教师组成不同的小组，然后由20名高中理科教师试行生物学外卖活动试剂盒。我们将从教师调查、讨论和访谈中收集和分析定量和定性的评估数据。公共卫生相关性：该项目与公共卫生的相关性在于，生物学外卖实验室活动工具包将为教师提供亲身体验生物实验室的机会，帮助他们的学生掌握科学主题，发展他们的科学推理技能，以及增加他们对科学的兴趣。该项目将创建和实地测试教育材料，以促进学生对生物概念的理解。这些信息将使教师能够帮助他们的学生更好地了解涉及他们健康的决定。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the Phase I SBIR proposal is to test the feasibility of Biology Take-Out science activity kits for high school students. These pre-assembled kits will permit students to obtain hands-on science experiences in a variety of educational settings without the need for laboratory facilities, equipment or teacher preparation. Hands-on laboratory experiences can help high school students to master scientific subject matter, develop their scientific reasoning skills, and increase their interest in science. Unfortunately, the quality of science laboratory experiences is poor for most U.S. high school students. Many high school science teachers have difficulty providing their students with hands-on science laboratory experiences because they have limited access to laboratory facilities, supplies or resources. Additional barriers include inadequate teacher preparation time or lack of teacher experience in preparing and implementing lab activities. These obstacles are significantly increased for educators in urban, rural and alternative educational settings. Biology Take-Out kits will help high school biology teachers overcome these obstacles by providing students with easy access to hands-on laboratory activities. These kits will contain high school-level, hands-on science activities packaged for individual student use, and will require minimal teacher preparation time. Biology Take-Out kits will not require access to laboratory facilities, making them suitable for use in alternative education settings. Student instructions will include appealing illustrations and will be written at a level that is appropriate for students with average to below average reading abilities. Biology Take-Out kits have potential for widespread use by teachers who: Have limited access to laboratory facilities and equipment; Do not have time and/or skills to do laboratory preparations; Struggle to provide make-up labs for students who have been absent from class; Need hands-on lab experiences for students on home instruction or in alternative education settings. The goals for this SBIR Phase I proposal are: 1. To test the feasibility of a design format for Biology Take-Out kit components - including the student instructions for the lab procedures, teacher information, kit supplies and packaging; 2. To evaluate the characteristics of Biology Take-Out kits that influence their potential adoption. During this Phase I SBIR project we will develop a minimum of five different Biology Take-Out activity kits. We will then conduct focus groups with a diverse group of 50 New York State high school science teachers, followed by pilot testing of Biology Take-Out activity kits by 20 high school science teachers. We will collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative evaluation data from teacher surveys, discussions and interviews. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The relevance of this project to public health is that the Biology Take-Out laboratory activity kits will provide teachers with access to hands-on biology lab experiences to help their students master scientific subject matter and develop their scientific reasoning skills as well as increase their interest in science. The project will create and field test educational materials to promote student understanding of biological concepts. This information will allow teachers to help their students become better informed for decisions involving their health.