The Rutgers/Industry Program for Teachers of Modern Biology is designed to modernize and deepen the biology background of 90 well-prepared high school teachers nationwide over three years, and to provide them with teaching materials (modules) representative of topics of modern scientific and technological interest. The program will consist of three main activities: (i) module development and revision: during this time teachers and scientists will work together to develop and revise modules on topics of scientific and technological interest for general distribution throughout the country. These revisions will be based on suggestions made by the teachers involved in all three of the program's activities. (ii) a leadership institute: here, biology teachers will study the modules with the assistance of lead teachers and faculty, attend seminars developed by university and industry scientists and consider alternative teaching strategies; and (iii) a summer program; here, the lead teachers will use the modules with a group of high school girls. An essential component of the program is the establishment of an academic/industry relationship and a support system consisting ofmeetings, a newsletter and a computer network. An amount equivalent to nearly 30% of the NSF award is being contributed by Rutgers University and other sources.
