This project will design, develop, and evaluate an innovative summer institute for secondary science teachers that integrates regional resources into graduate-level science modules. The modules will be developed by teams involving university scientists, inservice teachers, and science educators. The modules will be taught by the scientists and carry the appropriate science-department rubric. The teaching institute will involve 150 secondary school teachers from Montana and the Rocky Mountain region over three years. Project outcomes will include sixteen modules in biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics developed and tested by special cooperative developmental teams, and an institute model for cooperative course development between university science departments and their college of education. The Rocky-Mountain Institute model will be disseminated to about a half-dozen other universities geographically distributed throughout the country. An amount equivalent to 41.6% of the NSF award is being contributed as cost-sharing.
