|
|
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation's Oklahoma Science Project is a training program in biological research primarily for Oklahoma's rural high school biology and chemistry teachers. The Project is based on the fact that most of Oklahoma's high schools are in rural districts, isolated from institutions that elsewhere enrich science instruction and from the scientific community in general. Teachers in these schools need laboratory training and experience that is technically, intellectually, pedagogically, and economically feasible for use in their classrooms; they need ongoing mentoring and encouragement when they return to their classrooms; and they need long term opportunities to build both their laboratory skills and confidence. The Oklahoma Science Project is designed around these needs.
An 8 week Summer Course at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation provides laboratory training and experience; the web-based Oklahoma Science Network provides ongoing mentoring and encouragement; the Return to Science provides an opportunity for teachers to develop a lifelong habit of inquiry; an instructional CD (in preparation) will present the methods and results obtained in the Summer Course in a manner designed to encourage classroom use.
Project content focuses on experiments pertinent to the history of mid-20th century molecular genetics. This focus combines experiments of unsurpassed elegance, importance, and simplicity with low cost, contemporary relevance, and a sound pedagogical base. The Project now seeks to couple these experiments with contemporary approaches such as DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. In this model, OMRF serves the pre-college science community as a core facility, providing equipment and capabilities beyond those routinely available in public high school. The model relies on information technology to link OMRF to Oklahoma's pre-college science classrooms.
The Oklahoma Science Project has evolved over the years from a
|
