This project is a comprehensive inservice program involving Washington State University, the State Office of Public Instruction, private foundations, government and private industrial laboratories and local schhool districts. The program is targeted at out-of-field teachers of high school chemistry and culminates in a Master of Arts Degree in Chemistry. Thirty teachers from the Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana will be selected each year to participate in a three- year program which will include two one-month periods of instruction on the University Campus, four semesters of instruction during the academic years via satellite and a capstone six-week assignment in an industrial laboratory coupled with on-site instruction. Ninety teachers of high school chemistry will participate in this program, earning an MA in Chemistry. Satellite two-way video and audio telecommunications will allow participants from long distances to benefit from on- site instruction. This new program will include offerings such as General Chemistry from an Advanced Point of View, a two semester Organic and Biochemistry Sequence and Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences. These are not regular departmental offerings, but are based on the expressed needs of these teachers. The third summer will be spent in a laboratory, such as Battelle and other industrial labs. This program will provide a firm basis for the teaching of chemistry including modern applications and an enhanced knowledge base of instructional strategies as well as career opportunities for future chemists. The NSF request is for the support of the first group of thirty teachers plus the instructional costs for all three years. The support for the sixty other teachers as well as the institutionalization of the program will be forthcoming from other funds. NSF funding is approximately 20% of the cost of the whole project.
