The overall goal of Science Apprenticeship Program (SAP) is to increase the pool of disadvantaged high school students who are motivated and academically prepared to enter college and pursue careers in biomedical research and the health professions. SAP will also target K-12 in-service and pre-service teachers who teach (or plan to teach) in schools with a significant number of disadvantaged students. The main component of SAP will be a seven-week summer research experience for students and teachers under the supervision of active biomedical researchers who will act as mentors. The students will receive a meaningful individualized hands-on laboratory-based research experience with the objective of conveying to them that science is fun and non-threatening so that they would be stimulated to take more science courses. A similar research experience will be provided to the teachers to update and enhance their technical knowledge so that they can bring a sense of excitement to the classroom. The research experiences will be supplemented with additional science enrichment activities for both students and teachers during the summer and the academic year. At the end of the summer, participants will give oral presentations and submit written reports of what they had accomplished. Through these presentations, students will gain insight about the demands of the work place and their own ability to succeed. Students will be provided instruction to enhance their science background and their problem-solving skills. Teachers will be given assistance in designing simple modern laboratory experiments for classroom use. Pre-service teachers will be provided research experiences during the summer and the academic year. They will receive college credits which will count toward their certification program. Mentors will visit high schools with large enrollment of disadvantaged students to give lectures/demonstrations and to recruit participants for the succeeding summer. The long-range goal of the program is to develop linkages between K-12 teachers and Wright State biomedical researchers. Scientists from Wright State University and the private sector will act as role models and will discuss with students career paths, requirements and opportunities. Efforts will be made to involve parents in the program as much as possible. Follow-up surveys of the participants will be carried out at three month intervals to document and measure the effectiveness of SAP.
