$1.3 million NIH grant awarded to MSOE
| Published: 12/21/2005 |
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MSOE will
help high school teachers bring study of bird flu,
SARS, other health issues to
classroom
Avian flu. SARS. Anthrax. You've seen them in the news, but now high school science teachers and their students can study these "molecular stories" in the classroom, thanks to a grant awarded to Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).
The $1.3 million grant will fund a program of the Center for BioMolecular Modeling (CBM) designed to bring the world of molecular science to high school teachers and their students.
The program is a further extension of a current two-week summer program, which over 200 teachers from across the United States have participated in. As a part of the new program, teachers will work together and with staff at the CBM, developing a curriculum that could be used by other teachers all across the country.
"The need to recruit today's students into this new career track comes at the same time that the number of U.S. students choosing careers in science is decreasing. There's an urgent need for new science education outreach programs that introduce students to the excitement of the molecular biosciences at a time when they are making initial career decisions," said Dr. Timothy Herman, director of MSOE's Center for BioMolecular Modeling.
Each curriculum developed will focus on a current human health issue such as bird flu, SARs, sickle cell anemia or Alzheimers. While exploring the basic science behind each of these issues, students will be exposed to the role of basic and clinical research in the development of new treatments for these diseases. The curriculum will be designed around the use of physical models of molecular structures that students will use in an inquiry-driven way to explore the molecular world.
The overall goal of this project is to increase the understanding among high school science teachers, their students and the general public of the critical role of basic and clinical research in the development of new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of human diseases.
This new project builds on the success of the SEPA project called Genes, Schemes and Molecular Machines that is an immersive, multi-year professional development program focused on molecular structure and function. In addition to training teachers to teach this subject using innovative physical models and computer visualization tools, a SMART Team program (Students Modeling A Research Topic) exposes teachers and their students to the "real world of science" as they work with local research laboratories to create physical models of the protein being investigated in those labs. The research laboratories that students will be paired with are provided by grant partners, UW-Madison, Marquette University, Blood Research Institute and Medical College of Wisconsin.
Teachers will play a major role in the development of the curriculum, following their in-depth exploration of the topic during summer modeling workshops and as mentors of SMART Teams working with local basic and clinical research labs. The consistent, underlying theme will be the role played by the NIH in supporting the basic and clinical research that leads to new treatment options for the disease.
Working with the four academic partners, the Boys and Girls Club, Discovery World, and Growing Power, this goal will be achieved in a three-step process, defined by the following Specific Aims:
- To engage high school science teachers in an in-depth exploration of the molecular basis of a variety of human diseases. This immersive exploration will begin in a week-long summer course, followed by a week-long modeling workshop. During the subsequent academic year, a subset of these teachers will continue to explore these topics by mentoring a SMART Team that will interact with a local basic science or clinical research lab.
- To create Inquiry-based Curriculum Units (ICUs) that address (i) the molecular basis of a disease, (ii) the traditional treatment for the disease, and (iii) new treatment options that have been recently developed as a result of basic and clinical research. The ICUs will be developed by a selected subset of teachers working closely with CBM staff during the summer following their immersion in the molecular basis of the disease. Each ICU will be designed around a common template that allows students to discover basic information as a result of an active, inquiry-driven process. In each case, the final component of the ICU will address the "process of science" that resulted in the new treatment, including "who did the research?", "where was it done?", and "how was this work funded?".
- To broadly disseminate the ICUs to other teachers, their students and the general public. The teachers who participated in the creation of the ICUs will disseminate the units to their colleagues through presentations and workshops at state, regional and national meetings of science teachers. In addition, we will directly disseminate the use of the ICUs to students through the Wisconsin Science Olympiad program and to students of the Milwaukee Boys & Girls Club. Finally, these ICUs will be disseminated to adult learners through presentations in the outreach programs of the Discovery World Museum at Pier Wisconsin.
The five-year, $1,342,164 grant is one of only 12 awards made in 2005.
This new award follows two previous awards to the MSOE CBM: In 2000, an award allowed for the creation of the program, Genes, Schemes and Molecular Machines, geared toward high school science teachers. In 2003, a 2-year SEPA award continued the Genes, Schemes and Molecular Machines summer course, and began the dissemination of the SMART Team program.