This project will enhance the knowledge and teaching skills of Maine high school biology teachers through a program on immunology. The program will be managed and implemented as a joint effort by the Foundation for Blood Research (FBR) and the University of Southern Maine (USM). FBR carries out immunologically-based research activities, and its science Education Division has extensive experience in developing and introducing new science programs and curricula into secondary schools, including a recent joint effort with the BSCS to develop an immunology monograph for secondary schools. USM has recently established a graduate program in applied immunology and assembled a science faculty with diverse interests and skills in the field of immunology. This 3 level, 3 year program will provide didactic sessions, workshops and laboratory sessions during both the summer and the school year for 75 biology teachers from Maine, and it is anticipated that the program will be continued with support from Maine's Department of Education (and other sources) to include as many of the remaining biology teachers in the state as possible. Individual research projects will be designed for teachers at the most advanced level, and a partnership will be encouraged between faculty/researchers and the teachers to allow ongoing access to new information. Emphasis throughout will be placed on designing teaching strategies suitable for secondary school students and on teaching immunology as an interdisciplinary science. The goal is to improve the quality of science education in Maine so that a broad base of the population may better understand immunologic concepts and so that more students may be stimulated to consider careers in science. An amount equivalent to 66.4% of the NSF award is being contributed as cost-sharing.
