Changing Brains Through Inquiry, Not Drugs

描述（由申请人提供）：作为公共卫生工作的一部分，以减少药物的使用和相关的行为，中学生必须了解，成瘾是一种大脑疾病，从药物引起的细胞过程中介导的大脑学习的变化的结果。说明药物作用的最生动的方法是进行实验，证明它们影响突触和行为的力量。然而，许多MN中学教师没有接受过神经科学方面的培训，也没有设计和领导学生指导的关于简单神经系统如何对药物作出反应的调查。明尼苏达大学（UMN）神经科学系和课程与教学系建议开发，调整，实施，评估和传播基于药物滥用生物学基础的神经科学教育计划模型。该计划将包括中学科学教师的专业发展研讨会，BrainU（BrainUs，复数），以及符合州和国家标准的初中和高中学生的实验课程。在BrainU期间，教师将体验和学习基于探究的教学，因为他们获得了神经科学和药物滥用生物学的知识。将比较BrainU的两种形式;在双子城举行为期2周的密集BrainU活动，并在明尼苏达州的主办机构举行一系列为期2天的迷你BrainU活动。参与者将获得基于网络的为期一年的随访和教育学和神经科学方面的支持。支持调查实施的其他观察反馈将是BrainU体验的一部分，无论是亲自还是通过网络摄像头。形成性和总结性评估将用于确定计划元素的有效性以及教师和学生的神经科学知识和探究技能的变化。该项目的组成部分是教师教育工作者和神经科学家之间正在进行的合作，将BrainU整合到正规课程中，用于在UMN的教育硕士课程中培训中学科学教师。这种合作将模仿教师教育工作者和科学家在其他国家机构培训教师，因为他们主办miniBrainUs。该项目“通过探究而不是药物改变大脑”将导致实施深入的、以探究为基础的课程材料和由在线辅导网络支持的教师培训方案，这将促进加强对神经科学和药物滥用生物学的理解和应用，并将其纳入中学科学课程。公共卫生相关性：该项目“通过探究而不是药物改变大脑”将导致实施深入的、基于探究的课程材料和由在线指导网络支持的教师培训计划，这将促进对神经科学和生物学的深入理解和应用药物滥用纳入明尼苏达州的中学科学课程。改变大脑将为教师在内容、教学法和可用课程材料方面的综合培训树立榜样，并提供对学生成绩产生影响的证据。除了影响MN的教师如何教授科学之外，基础科学家和教师教育工作者在培训中学科学教师方面的合作预计将为改善科学技术工程和数学（STEM）教育的教师准备树立全国榜样。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As part of public health efforts to curtail drug use and associated behaviors, secondary students must understand that addiction is a brain disease that results from drug-induced changes in the cellular processes mediating learning in the brain. The most vivid way to illustrate the effects of drugs is to perform experiments demonstrating their power to influence synapses and behavior. Yet many MN secondary teachers have not been trained in neuroscience or to design and lead student-directed investigations on how simple nervous systems respond to drugs. The University of Minnesota (UMN) Department of Neuroscience and Department of Curriculum and Instruction propose to develop, adapt, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a model inquiry-based neuroscience education program on the biological basis of drug abuse. The program will consist of professional development workshops for secondary science teachers, BrainU (BrainUs, plural), and an experimentally based curriculum for middle and high school students aligned to state and national standards. During BrainU, teachers will experience and learn inquiry-based teaching as they acquire knowledge of neuroscience and the biology of drug abuse. Two formats for BrainU will be compared; a 2 week intensive BrainU in the Twin Cities and a series of 2 day miniBrainUs to be held at host institutions around the state of MN. Participants will receive web-based, yearlong follow-up and support in both pedagogy and neuroscience. Additional observational feedback to support inquiry implementation will be part of the BrainU experience, either in person or via webcam. Formative and summative evaluations will be used to determine the effectiveness of program elements and changes in both teachers' and students' neuroscience knowledge and inquiry skills. Integral to the project is the development of an ongoing collaboration between teacher educators and neuroscientists to integrate BrainU into the formal curriculum for training secondary science teachers in the M.Ed. programs at UMN. This collaboration will be modeled to teacher educators and scientists at other state institutions training teachers as they host miniBrainUs. The project, Changing Brains through Inquiry, Not Drugs, will result in the implementation of in-depth, inquiry-based curriculum materials and teacher training programs supported by an online mentoring network, which will promote enhanced understanding and application of neuroscience and the biology of drug abuse into the secondary science curriculum. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The project, Changing Brains through Inquiry, Not Drugs, will result in the implementation of in- depth, inquiry-based curriculum materials and teacher training programs supported by an online mentoring network, which will promote enhanced understanding and application of neuroscience and the biology of drug abuse into the secondary science curriculum in Minnesota. Changing Brains will set an example for the combined training of teachers in content, pedagogy and usable curricular materials and provide evidence of impact on students' achievement scores. Beyond impacting how teachers across MN teach science, the cooperation between basic scientists and teacher educators in training secondary science teachers is expected to set a national example for improving teacher preparation in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education.