The Student, Teacher Applied Research Training (START) project incorporates a one-on-one research apprenticeship for high school students and K-12 teachers, while providing an opportunity for teachers to develop a science laboratory to incorporate into the science curriculum in the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD). This grant will provide the basis for an interactive partnership of professional biomedical scientists and their graduate students at the UNT Health Science Center (HSC) with the teachers and students of the FWISD. The program involves an interdisciplinary approach utilizing faculty from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The program is designed to accommodate trainees with varied backgrounds by providing a 2 hr twice weekly course organized to present the basics of some new areas of biomedical sciences. Students and teachers will work closely with faculty mentors on ongoing research projects in their laboratories and will be required to present their findings at the end of the summer in an oral presentation and written report. HSC faculty will assist teachers in the development and implementation of a laboratory experiment based on their summer research experience that is suitable for inclusion into the FWISD science curriculum. A quarterly in-service science teacher forum will also be conducted by the program directors in conjunction with the START teachers for the purpose of continued education and to demonstrate the laboratory experiments developed by the START teachers for dissemination district wide. Students, teachers and mentors will evaluate the program at the end of the summer training period for use in subsequent planning. This program will provide a stimulus to students to seek careers in science by introducing them to the scientific method and the excitement of doing research. Teachers should gain a heightened awareness of the new areas of biomedical sciences and feel confident in including this information in their classroom curriculums.
