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Student/Teacher Team Biotechnology/Genetics Workshop Abstract

Cognitive and metacognitive theories regarding learning and teaching emphasize experience and feedback. Combining these techniques in STEM education and teacher professional development is not easy to accomplish. A unique format for delivering science content, teaching lab technique, and providing science teachers with a teaching professional development experience was piloted as part of an NSF diversity in engineering technology grant. A one-week workshop on biotechnology and genetics was created. This paper presents a summary of techniques, participant evaluations, and an overview of planned activities. Sample lab and lecture materials can be obtained from the author. The attendees were high school biology teachers along with one student selected by each teacher to create a learning team. The science and lab technique was new to both the teachers and the students. The team’s goal was to maximize learning. The pair helped each other understand the lecture material and conduct the lab exercises. In-class activities included lecture, lab exercises, media presentations, inter-team discussions, general discussions, study sessions, projects, social events, and team final presentations. These activities created an environment in which the teacher could: learn new science content and lab techniques, directly observe a student learning the same material. This workshop provided opportunities for the teachers to engage in collaborative learning and engage in inquiry-based learning. At the end of each day the science teachers met separately for a debriefing session with the high school science administrators (county level science coordinators). Data were collected by the workshop administrators for evaluation. The teacher’s overall satisfaction rating (OSR) of the workshop was 3.94 out of a possible 4.0. The student OSR was 3.91 out of a possible 4.0. The technique has shown value in simultaneously expanding science teacher’s knowledge and teaching skills and interesting students in STEM careers. The high school administrators and teachers were so impressed with the results of this technique that twice as many science workshops are already scheduled for next summer. The technique is also being expanded to engineering fields.

Background

The National Science Foundation funded a grant entitled “Diversity in Engineering Technology Education”. The grant’s principle investigator was Dr. Stephen Kuyeth in the Engineering Technology (ET) Department of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). The grant created a venue in which the ET department coordinated with regional community colleges and high schools to create a tiered team to conduct activities designed to increase high school student’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and engineering technology. Some of the activities included inter and intra school competitions with robots, trebuchets, and school team performance on the annual Junior Engineering and Technology (JETs) exam. The community colleges worked with the high schools in their service areas to provide mentoring and guidance for both the students and the teachers (few of whom knew much about the JETs exam or building robots, etc.). The author and the author’s school participated in these activities.

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Cox, V., & Ross, M. B., & EssexFraser, P. (2007, June), Student/Teacher Team Biotechnology/Genetics Workshop Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2693