Education

APS Collaborates with UC-Berkeley’s Project WISE to Develop Interactive, Web-based Science Activities
    The American Physiological Society launched a new collaborative effort with University of California at Berkeley’s Project WISE in October 2000 to develop inquiry-based, interactive, online science lessons for middle and high school students. Under the direction of APS Education Officer, Marsha Lakes Matyas, educators and researchers in the APS Frontiers in Physiology and Explorations in Biomedicine programs will use Project WISE tools and techniques to create cutting-edge lesson integrating educational technology, recent research, and key concepts in life sciences. Local Outreach Teams (LOTs) will disseminate the online resources through local workshops. The project will involve tribal college faculty, middle/high school teachers, and APS members, collaborating with Project WISE and APS Education Office staff.
    Through a partnership of teachers, technology experts, scientists, and pedagogical researchers, Project WISE has emerged as an innovative, web-based learning environment that presents educators with an opportunity to integrate effective teaching strategies within the framework of required state standards, and technology resources. Project WISE activities are designed to make science accessible through scientific models; make student thinking visible through interactive simulations and argument-representation tools; help students to learn from one another through online discussions; and encourage life-long learning. At the July 2000 APS Summer Retreat for Frontiers and Explorations participants, Jim Slotta and Brian Levey, of Project WISE met with APS Education Office staff and Summer Research Teachers (SRTs) to demonstrate the development of online activities using a variety of cutting-edge WISE activity development tools.
    In the fall of 2000, Frontiers and Explorations participants received Curriculum Development-Summer Research Teacher (CD-SRT) fellowships to develop online interactive inquiry-based activities in conjunction with the UC-Berkeley’s Project WISE. The CD-SRTs will also serve as mentors for new SRTs, lead ongoing online discussions in critical teaching strategies, and conduct workshops at national teacher conferences.
    In 2000, the Frontiers program is supporting two teams of CD-SRTs: Nancy Kellogg, (SRT ’97) of Brawley Union High School, Brawley, CA, and Cathy Box, (SRT ’99) of Tahoka High School, Tahoka, TX comprise one team; and Lesli Adler, (SRT ‘90) of T. S. Wootton High School, Rockville, MD, and John Nishan, (SRT ‘95) of Manchester High School, Manchester, CT comprise the second team. Barbara Arrowtop, (SRT ’99) of Heart Butte School, Heart Butte, MT, and Kathy
Knudson, (SRT ‘98) of Polson Middle School, Polson, MT serve as 2000 Explorations CD-SRTs.
    The Frontiers and Explorations programs include both a Summer Research Program and a LOT Program. The Summer Research Program for science teachers and faculty typically involves 20-25 teachers nationwide in biomedical research, an exploration of the National Science Education Standards, effective teaching strategies, and curriculum development. The LOT Program allows teachers and researchers at the grassroots level to plan and conduct in-service programs for the dissemination of hands-on, inquiry-based, learning cycle units in physiology to local teachers.
    Initiated by the APS in 1990, Frontiers in Physiology is in its eleventh year. Current funding is provided by the APS, the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) Science Education Partnerships Award (SEPA), and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). In operation since 1997, Explorations in Biomedicine is funded by the APS, and the NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program. Both programs continue to expand APS educational outreach with extensive dissemination of program materials and development of interactive activities online and on CD-ROM.
    For more information about the APS education programs and resources, please visit the APS website at http://www.the-aps.org/education.htm or contact the APS Education Office at 301-530-7132, or email: educatio@aps.
faseb.org. More information about Project WISE is available at http://wise.
berkeley.edu/welcome.php.

Foreground to background: At the APS Summer Retreat in July 2000: Jim Slotta, Project WISE; Marsha Lakes Matyas, APS Education Officer; Martin Frank, APS Executive Director; and Brian Levey, Project WISE.

As originally printed in The Physiologist,
February 2001, Volume 44, Number 1
Page 18

    The 2000 National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference convened October 25-29 in Orlando, FL, with the APS Education Office in attendance as K-12 workshops sponsor and exhibitor. The NABT annual conference is attended by more than 1,500 K-12 and undergraduate science educators and professionals. It provides opportunities to examine cutting-edge teaching materials, science and laboratory equipment, and computer software and hardware and to participate in workshops and symposia.
    APS Education Officer, Marsha Lakes Matyas gave an invited featured presentation, “Integrating Inquiry, Equity, and Technology in the Classroom.” Her talk explored research on technology use in K-12 science education, including an update on the “digital divide” in the use of technology by students from lower income and/or rural communities. Participants were challenged to consider three areas—inquiry-based learning, equity issues, and effective technology use—in designing curriculum.
    With April Gardner, University of Northern Colorado, Matyas also presented “Inquiry Approach, Authentic Assessment, and Science Role Models: Tying it All Together,” a hands-on workshop for undergraduate faculty providing more than 35 life science activities, each related to a science role model. Activities involved inquiry approaches, problem solving, cooperative learning strategies, and ideas for authentic assessment. Participants received the APS publication Women Life Scientists: Past, Present and Future, and APS Education resources, including the Resources for K-12 Science Education 2001 CD-ROM.
    “Everyday Inquiry Activities,” was presented by APS staff member, Alta Wallington, and Frontiers in Physiology Summer Research Teacher (‘97) Nancy Kellogg of Brawley Union High School, Brawley, CA. In this workshop for middle and high school teachers, Kellogg modeled the teaching of “Animal Research Project,” an activity that simulates the application, approval, funding, and publishing/presenting processes employed by professional research scientists. Kellogg also presented “Sarco-what? Sarcomere!” an activity where students discover, through model-building and research, the microscopic structure of a sarcomere, the functional unit of skeletal muscle, and the sliding-filament mechanism process of muscle contraction. Workshop attendees received copies of the activities and APS Education resources, including the Resources for K-12 Science Education 2001 CD-ROM.
    For more information about APS Education programs and resources, please visit the APS website at http://www.the-aps.org/education.htm or contact the Education Office at 301-530-7132, or email: educatio@aps.faseb.org.

As originally printed in The Physiologist,
February 2001, Volume 44, Number 1
Page 18

As a result of the recent growth of APS programs in the areas of undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education, the APS Council has approved the addition of a Higher Education Programs Coordinator to the APS Education Office staff. Under the direction of the APS Education Officer and the Executive Director, the Higher Education Programs Coordinator will plan, organize, and implement activities to promote and improve physiology education at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, including:

As originally printed in The Physiologist,
February 2001, Volume 44, Number 1
Page 19

    Thanks to generous support from the NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, the Explorations in Biomedicine—Native Americans and Research Careers program will continue for five additional years. Explorations is a collaborative program of the APS and the American Indian Research Opportunities (AIRO) consortium of Montana tribal colleges and Montana State University-Bozeman. The program is an outgrowth of a visit in May 1990 to Little Big Horn College, a tribal college located in Crow Agency, MT, by Robert Carroll, East Carolina University, sponsored by the APS. An article about this visit appeared in The Physiologist (Carroll, R.G., “Minority Recruitment: Physiology Instruction on the Crow Indian Reservation.” Physiologist 33(4): 77-78, 1990). In 1996, with support from the NIGMS MARC program, the APS launched Explorations in Biomedicine.
    Explorations works with the science faculty at Montana’s seven tribal colleges and middle and high schools serving Native American students to create an atmosphere encouraging science studies, the exploration and pursuit of biomedical research careers, and interaction with biomedical researchers across the country. The goals are to increase interest and participation in biomedical research careers, expand career options, and improve science education for Native American students. Explorations accomplishes these goals through three major activities -- the Summer Research Program, the annual Fall Retreats, and the Minority Travel Fellowships.
The Summer Research Program is coordinated in conjunction with the APS Frontiers in Physiology program. Teachers and faculty receive summer fellowships in physiology research laboratories with APS researchers across the country, attend a corresponding Summer Retreat with colleagues nationwide, attend Experimental Biology the following spring, and develop online and print laboratory activities. Explorations will continue to offer opportunities to learn about scientific research and activity development and will enhance those opportunities by focusing on the integration of inquiry, equity, and technology in science teaching. Summer Research Teachers (SRTs) will explore websites with outstanding teaching resources, discuss readings about effective teaching and learning, and reflect on their own teaching, thus expanding their repertoire of teaching methods (pedagogy).
    SRTs may continue participating in other Education Office programs after their fellowships end. Past fellows organize Local Outreach Teams to disseminate laboratory activities in their home school districts, participate in online curriculum development projects, and present activities at national meetings of the National Association of Biology Teachers and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
    The annual Fall Retreats provide professional development in locations throughout Montana for science educators who work with Native American students. The Retreats focus on specific topics, providing ready-to-use classroom activities and emphasizing curricular enhancement tools and skills. Attendees also build working relationships with APS members who serve as “physiologists-in-residence” at the Retreats.
    The Minority Travel Fellowships allow a small number of Native American students and science faculty from Montana tribal colleges to attend Experimental Biology meetings. Travel expenses are paid and fellows participate in a Fellowship Reception and a luncheon. Usually this is their first time at a scientific meeting, and fellows participate fully by attending scientific sessions and poster sessions, as well as symposia and workshops on careers and mentoring. Many of the awardees present posters on their own research. Fellows are paired with APS members who serve as their mentors during the meeting, to facilitate interaction with other scientists and students at EB.
    Through this ongoing project, the APS will enhance and expand its collaboration with AIRO and its work with Montana students and faculty to enhance life sciences education at Montana tribal colleges and surrounding reservations. For more information on Explorations, please visit the APS website at http://www.the-aps.org/education/expl/index.htm or contact Marsha Lakes Matyas, APS Education Officer, at mmatyas@aps.faseb.org or 301-530-7132.

An Explorations participant uses web technology to develop a teaching activity.