Incorporating a course-based research experience in high school and community college courses in Southeast Nebraska

该项目以一种可接近且广受欢迎的伴侣动物--狗为中心，将提高高中生和大学生及其老师的科学素养和对科学技术的参与度。为生物和农业教师举办的暑期工作坊将侧重于实验室技术的内容和培训，以实施基于犬科课程的研究经验。将提供包含活动所需所有用品和设备的犬类(K-9)工具包，供教师在教室内借出和使用。为了将生物技术与学生的生活直接联系起来，学生们将从自己的宠物身上收集DNA样本，同时他们将参与这个以课程为基础的研究项目，旨在研究狗的基因在其社会行为中所起的作用。该项目为支持高中教师，包括资源有限地区的教师提供了一种模式，因为他们纳入了新的引人入胜的课程。它也是与行业和其他组织合作的典范，以提高与生物技术职业相关的意识、知识和技能，这对发展一支具有竞争力的STEM劳动力队伍非常重要。该项目将扩大过去五年建立的能力建设和基础设施，导致东南社区学院(SCC)在生物技术领域提供三个可堆叠的证书。在生物技术的背景下，与工业界合作开发的真实研究经验有可能吸引高中生对这一高增长领域的兴趣。该项目将利用与内布拉斯加州地区生物科学行业和教育协会的现有伙伴关系，扩大这种研究经验的实施，提供对狗的生活规则的洞察。最终，预计针对高中生和SCC学生的外展活动将培养人们对该地区和大内布拉斯加州生物技术人员职业的兴趣。SCC生物技术项目的毕业生将准备在受监管的环境中工作，并满足对中等技能技术人员的需求，这些技术人员对内布拉斯加州和全球经济至关重要。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Centered around an accessible and generally well-loved companion animal, dogs, this project will increase scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology by high school and college students and their teachers. A summer workshop for biology and agriculture teachers will focus on the content and training in laboratory techniques to implement the canine course-based research experience. Canine (K-9) kits containing all the supplies and equipment needed for the activity will be available for teachers to check out and use in their classrooms. To directly connect biotechnology to the student’s lives, students will collect DNA samples from their own pets as they engaged in the course-based research project aimed to examine the role a dog’s genes play in its social behavior. This project provides a model for supporting high school teachers, including those in resource-limited areas, as they incorporate new engaging curricula. It also serves as a model for partnering with industry and other organizations to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills related to biotechnology careers important to developing a competitive STEM workforce.This project will extend the capacity building and infrastructure established over the past five years that has led to Southeast Community College (SCC) offering three stackable credentials in biotechnology. Within the context of biotechnology, authentic research experiences developed in collaboration with industry have the potential to attract high school student interest in this high-growth field. This project will leverage existing partnerships with Nebraska’s regional bioscience industry and educational associations to expand implementation of such a research experience, offering insight into the rules of life in dogs. Ultimately, it is expected that outreach activities targeted to high school and SCC students will foster an interest in biotechnician careers in the region and greater Nebraska. Graduates from SCC’s biotechnology program will be prepared to work in a regulated environment and fill the need for middle-skilled technicians, critical to the Nebraska and global economy. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.