This project will disseminate neuroscience materials to secondary school science teachers via a CD-ROM. These materials will be evaluated to 1) determine changes in student attitudes toward science; 2) to assess changes in student knowledge of neuroscience concepts and 3) to quantify how students and teachers are using the Internet Neuroscience Resource. The Scientific Attitude Inventory-II will be used to evaluate middle school student attitudes toward science before and after exposre to the Neuroscience Resource. Pretesting and posttesting of middle school students will be performed to evaluate content knowledge of neuroscience-related concepts and principles. Questions that comprise the content evaluation inventory will be based on the guidelines and benchmarks established by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993), the National Research Council (1996) and the National Science Teachers Association (Aldridge and Strassenburg, 1995). Prior to general distribution, pretests and posttests for both attitude and content knowledge will be evaluated for validity and reliability with pilot group of middle school students. An Internet version of the Neuroscience Resource will continue to be available. An on-line survey and analysis of daily use log files will determine how the Internet Neuroscience Resource is utilized.
| Chudler, Eric H (2010) SPORE series winner. Resources for anyone interested in the brain. Science 328:1648-9 |
