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学外卖科学活动包的可行性。这些预组装的套件将使学生能够在各种教育环境中获得实践科学经验，而无需实验室设施、设备或教师准备。实验室实践可以帮助高中生掌握科学主题，发展他们的科学推理能力，并提高他们对科学的兴趣。不幸的是，大多数美国高中生的科学实验室体验质量很差。许多高中科学教师很难为学生提供动手科学实验室的经验，因为他们有有限的实验室设施，用品或资源。其他障碍包括教师准备时间不足或缺乏准备和实施实验室活动的教师经验。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。生物学外卖包将帮助高中生物教师克服这些障碍，为学生提供方便的动手实验室活动。这些工具包将包含高中水平，动手科学活动包装为个别学生使用，并将需要最少的教师准备时间。生物学外卖包将不需要使用实验室设施，使其适合在替代教育环境中使用。学生指导将包括吸引人的插图，并将在一个水平，这是适合学生与平均水平以下的阅读能力。生物学外卖工具包有可能被教师广泛使用，他们：使用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;努力为缺席的学生提供化妆实验室;需要为家庭教学或替代教育环境的学生提供实践实验室经验。本SBIR第一阶段提案的目标是：1。测试生物学外卖工具包组件设计格式的可行性-包括学生实验程序说明、教师信息、工具包供应和包装; 2.评估影响其潜在采用的生物外卖套件的特征。在第一阶段SBIR项目中，我们将开发至少五种不同的生物学外卖活动套件。然后，我们将与50名纽约州立高中科学教师组成的多元化小组进行焦点小组，然后由20名高中科学教师对生物学外卖活动套件进行试点测试。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套件将为教师提供动手生物实验室体验，以帮助学生掌握科学主题，培养他们的科学推理技能，并提高他们对科学的兴趣。该项目将编制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学生更好地了解涉及其健康的决定。

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.