In the CUNY Science Now GK-12 project, City University of New York doctoral students will collaborate with science teachers in New York City high schools to engage students in ?real world? science that is based on the Fellows? own research. Teachers and Fellows will collaborate to develop and teach innovative Authentic Research Modules in Science that focus on scientific content and process skills together with basic literacy and numeracy skills. CUNY research faculty will assist in this process, producing a unique three-way partnership. Fellows will master a wide range of knowledge and process competencies regarding learning, instruction, and the communication of science through the project?s rigorous training program, the curriculum development process, and a high school teaching experience. The project will enrich the graduate training of CUNY?s STEM doctoral students and equip them with the skills they need to become effective science communicators in the 21st century. Involving high school students in highly engaging, research-based instructional modules will help them to master the content and process skills needed to succeed in college-level science courses and promote greater interest in science. The project will provide a rich professional development opportunity to teachers and also address the issue of making science education at the high school level more inquiry based. The Science Now GK-12 project will develop a nationally replicable, professional development model that demonstrates its simultaneous impact on doctoral students, high school teachers, research faculty, and high school students, while also leaving in place curriculum modules that can be adopted by schools.
had two primary goals. The first was to train STEM doctoral students to become better communicators of science both within and outside the classroom. The second was to assist high school teachers with some of the many challenges they face when teaching inquiry-based research activities in high-needs urban schools. Both goals drove a program model in which Fellows worked alongside high school teachers to design, pilot, and implement hands on, inquiry-based classroom and laboratory research activities for high school students that centered on the Fellow's own research. These activities were designed to be developed into a module or course that provided high school students with authentic research experiences in science that would also become a permanent resource for teachers in their classrooms. These modules (known as Authentic Research Modules in Science - ARMS) were (and continue to be) offered as regular high school courses for either high school elective credit or dual enrollment college credit. ARMS are available to the public via a website (www.cunygk12.net). Fellows and Teacher Training Outcomes Of central importance to the program model was the fact that ARMS development, including their pilot implementation, was one of the major training mechanisms by which Fellows developed competencies in communication, teamwork, curriculum design and instruction. Thus, while each Fellow developed a different ARMS, they all experienced common core training by designing an ARMS according to a standard template influenced by best practices in learning theory, instructional design, assessment and evaluation. This training experience began each year with a 10-day summer workshop and continued throughout the academic year with additional workshops, intended for both Fellows and teachers. This training enhanced Fellows’ competencies related to understanding and using: written and oral communication, principles of cognitive science, inquiry pedagogy, team work, assessments, developing curriculum development, and technology for instruction. A unique professional development element of the program included a monthly writing assignment, providing Fellows an opportunity to reflect upon, contextualize, and examine all aspects of their experience, from ARMS development and classroom activities to their own research and graduate education. Working with a writing expert, Fellows received feedback on their essays and discussed the results in monthly meetings. These writing assignments served two purposes. It enabled Fellows to develop their narrative writing skills in the context of analytical reflection, a type of writing uncommon in the sciences and unfamiliar to most Fellows when they begin the GK-12 project. Second, the assignments enabled Fellows to reflect on the links between science education, to the point where some Fellows reported thinking about their research and career paths differently. To sustain the training initiated by the program, a post program summer workshop will be offered to CUNY doctoral students in STEM fields to provide them with exposure to the design and implementation of inquiry-based instruction, as well as more general teaching issues. Authentic Research Modules in Science (ARMS) Outcomes To date, CUNY GK-12 Fellows and teachers have developed and pilot tested 19 ARMS that focus on the Fellows’ research and engage high school students in research projects related to their own neighborhood. By investigating their own "backyard," students acquire science research and process skills (e.g., formulating questions, making observations, sampling, analyzing data) and learn how to communicate their research. Furthermore, by participating in these ARMS, students have not only expanded their knowledge base of authentic science, they also gained an expanded insight into their own communities in terms of the physical features (both natural and altered by humans) as well as how intentional (e.g., policy) and unintentional practices (e.g., disposal of trash) modify these neighborhood spaces and the species within them. The 19 ARMS produced include topics that range from neuroscience to ecology to molecular biology, and as initially noted are available for national dissemination via the project’s website, www.cunygk12.net. Additional Program Outcomes Over the five years of our project, the program has reached approximately 2,500 high school students in 27 schools through the work of 29 graduate Fellows and 42 teachers. Many of these participating high school students have been recognized for their work in various science fair competitions. As a result, numerous students have graduated and are pursuing STEM related fields in college. Some have been awarded scholarships as a result of GK-12 related work. Teachers have also benefited from the program and report that their work with Fellows has helped to expand their content knowledge, expose them to new applications of their content area, and introduce new curricular activities that they will use in future classes. Other benefits brought about by the project model include long-term connections with the NYC Department of Education and CUNY College Now, and other institutions, such as the American Museum of Natural History and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which may facilitate and sustain the future delivery of ARMS.
