Iowa Chautauqua: A Regional Effort to Achieve More Appropriate Science for Students in Grades Four through Nine

爱荷华州大学的罗伯特·耶格尔博士开发了一种 中等教育教师提高方案（“爱荷华州肖托夸”） 全国各地的教师。 这个程序提供 教师有三个星期的工作坊经验， 科学-技术-社会（STS）方法 指导。STS方法强调社会影响 以及自然、技术和以人为本的问题 活动 STS问题的例子包括干旱， 农业、水力发电。 教师将 有关于如何识别STS问题的说明， 当地关注的问题，并有可能让学生参与 有意义的调查 教师将培养能力， 通过促进数据，使学生能够进行调查 收集、分析和设计替代性社会 行动上 这些社会行为可以作为 校外努力解决真实的社区问题。 爱荷华州肖托夸将达到300所爱荷华州中学 在两年的时间里， 期 工业界和科学院的科学家 在爱荷华州的大学和社区学院， 科学资源。 Yager博士的项目领导团队 收集了一系列令人印象深刻的信息来源， 学生和教师可以从中获取数据， 调查事务所 这个教师提升项目将有助于 师生自主发展 调查人员了解 科学与社会 该项目的成本分摊占NSF的53% 贡献

Dr. Robert Yager of the University of Iowa has developed a teacher enhancement program ("Iowa Chautauqua") for middle school teachers across the state. This program provides teachers with a three-week workshop experience in the Science-Technology-Society (STS) approach to science instruction. The STS approach stresses the societal impacts and issues of natural, technological, and anthropocentric activities. Examples of STS issues would include drought, agriculture, hydroelectric power generation. Teachers will have instruction on how to identify STS issues that are local concerns and are likely to engage students in meaningful inquiry. Teachers will develop the ability to enable student investigations by facilitating data gathering, analysis, and design of alternative social action. These social actions can be pursued as out-of-school efforts to address real community issues. The Iowa Chautauqua will reach 300 Iowa middle school science teachers in ten different areas during a two year period. Scientists from industry and from science faculty at Iowa universities and community colleges are involved as science resources. Dr. Yager's project leadership team has assembled an impressive array of information sources from which students and teachers may derive data for their investigations. This teacher enhancement project will help teachers and students to develop as independent investigators with an awareness of the relationships between science and society. Cost sharing on this project represents 53% of the NSF contribution.