National Centers for Systems Biology

Professional development of secondary school teachers
One of the high-school outreach efforts at the Center for Modular Biology focuses on professional development of secondary school teachers from New England area High Schools.

This program includes a lecture series on “The Biology of Diversity”, a topic which is well suited for a general audience and which also coincides with the topic of our research proposal on the generation and control of diversity. One general objective is to provide high school teachers with material that can easily be adapted for the classroom. This lecture series will start in the summer of 2010 in a collaborative effort with the Harvard University Life Sciences – HHMI program. During the two-week program eighteen teachers will attend the Biology of Diversity lectures, tour Bauer fellow laboratories and create curriculum materials and animations for use in their classrooms and distribution on the web. The long-term goal is to make these lectures and material available over the web after the inclusion of teaching modules (developed in collaboration with the Center for Genome Dynamics).

During the fall of each year, Bauer fellows and center grant faculty will also share their research with a larger audience of 70 high school teachers through lectures in the Life Science – Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fall Teacher Program. More information available on our outreach website.

Center for Quantitative Biology (Princeton University)

Summer Workshop – Molecular Biology: Hot Topics, Cool Genes
The 2009 Department of Molecular Biology Outreach Program Summer Workshop for secondary school science teachers will consist of a two week summer workshop focusing on hands-on experimental work in the laboratory designed to illustrate the principles of modern molecular biology and genetics; the application of these principles to questions of human health and disease; and the way in which discoveries are made in the natural sciences. During the school year, regional alumni teachers can bring laboratory exploration to their students by borrowing equipment, reagents and supplies. Alumni of our workshop are welcomed back, with their students, to our fall and spring TIGER Talks.

After School Workshops for Science Teachers
Share the excitement of biotechnology with your students. Satellite learning centers provide training, loaner laboratory equipment and inspiration.

Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology (UC San Francisco)

IISME Teacher Training
The Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME) program places K-12 teachers in summer fellowships to provide them with exposure to industry and academic research environments. The teaching fellows spend 90% of their time working on a research project with their host/mentor and 10% of their time on professional development (producing an Educational Transfer Plan to update their curriculum). Each summer at least one IISME fellow joins the UCSF iGEM team to learn about Systems and Synthetic Biology and identify ways that the tools and research developed by our community can be incorporated into their school curriculum. In the summer of 2012 our Center sponsored an IISME fellowship for Stephen Wakulchik, a high school science teacher from Dewey Academy in Oakland, CA. Stephen worked directly with our education coordinator to lead the iGEM team in developing their synthetic biology project and working in the lab. Stephen learned many new laboratory techniques and knowledge about the field of synthetic biology that he is now incorporating into his classroom. Additionally, Stephen developed a plan of action for helping his school administrators and faculty troubleshoot and brainstorm to solve problems within the school. This plan of action was based on the method of group idea generation used with our IGEM team, which Stephen was able to be a part of several times during the summer.

Center for Systems Biology (Institute for Systems Biology)

Center for Inquiry Science
In collaboration with the Center for Inquiry Science, the Center funds the Science Educators’ Network for Professional Growth (SEN), a program that offers experienced science teachers’ the training to become a SEN professional development provider. The 2007 SEN Pilot Cohort and the 2008 SEN Cohort-1 have directly impacted 290 students. These are students in the classrooms of SEN participants. The 2007 Center-funded external Pilot Evaluation results led to significant changes to SEN training. These changes include updated material, content, and changing the SEN training from a 2-part, 5 day experience to a 4-part, 8 day experience. Additionally, SEN has shifted to work solely with classroom teachers.

Chicago Center for Systems Biology

UTEP: Urban Teacher Education Program
The goal of the Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) is to enable participants within two years after graduation to become successful teachers in challenging urban schools. A professional development (PD) course about systems biology is offered to help prepare high school teachers to understand links to standards and mandated curriculum. Teachers learn how to utilize interactive, highly engaging pedagogy to motivate students to learn.

Professional Development (PD) Course for Science Educators
Every other summer, twenty middle school schoolteachers from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) participate in systems biology related training activities linked to ISBE standards. This is a collaborative project between the Center and the Field Museum’s Education Department and Pritzker Lab. It involves a one-week course at the Field Museum to enhance participant’s content knowledge, laboratory techniques, and pedagogical expertise. Activities include lectures from Center investigators, extracting and sequencing DNA, touring the Center’s labs at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, practicing model class lessons based on PD course activities, and production of System Biology/genetics activities for use in CPS classrooms. Participating teachers who finish the PD course will gain graduate credit and Continuing Professional Development Units (CPDU’s). Teachers will be provided a stipend for course attendance and post-course and classroom materials, a one-year family membership to the Field Museum, and a one-year registration to the Field Museum’s Harris Educational Loan Center, which offers specimens and artifacts for use in classrooms.

Systems Biology Center New York (SBCNY)

Workshops for Undergraduate Biology Educators
These workshops will develop educational materials to facilitate undergraduate educators to incorporate Systems Biology approaches in their courses. The workshops will focus on biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology teachers who run junior or senior level classes. The workshops will deal with modeling approaches that can be incorporated into their curriculum. Specific examples with problem sets and other self-learning educational tools will be developed. SBCNY will offer stipends to support the participation of educators in these workshops. Please send an e-mail to Dr. Terry Krulwich at terry.krulwich@mssm.edu for additional details about the workshops for Undergraduate Educators.