Science Education Partnership Award
Project Description:
The Scientist-Teacher Education Partnership Program was established in 1998 through a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from NCRR of the NIH. The purpose of the project is to improve science education, and to get children involved in science at an early age to inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical, biobehavioral and behavioral research. This project consists of a partnership between Scientists at the Shriver Center in Waltham, Massachusetts and local elementary school educators and administrators to develop and disseminated a curriculum of biobehavioral science education for use with children in grades 3-6. The goals of the projects are: 1) to provide children with learning experiences that will establish the foundation for broad, socially-connected understanding of how the brain works and how brain functioning relates to behavior, 2) to introduce children to integrated study of diverse topics, and 3) to emphasize typical and atypical development. The project is unique in that there is an explicit, hands-on focus on showing how various scientific disciplines (neurobiology, behavioral neuroscience, genetics, etc.) work together to understand biobehavioral phenomena. The project is also unique in that the curriculum explicitly contrasts typical and atypical development. By doing this, we will teach children that variations in development are normal and determined by understandable or potentially understandable interactions between genes, brain development and environment. Our curriculum was developed using a multi-track, multi-modal approach that recognizes that children are a heterogeneous group with different histories, strengths, and interests. It consists of schoolroom demonstrations, small group cooperative learning exercises, and computer-assisted self-study programs with appropriate branching options to accommodate individual differences in performance. The project website will communicate the major features of the curriculum.
Keyword(s):
Science Education, Atypical Development, Scientist-Teacher Partnership
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Developing & Disseminating Information
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Urban
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
