The purpose of this two year program is 1) to continue a previous teacher enhancement program for high school biology teachers in the areas of molecular biology and biotechnology, and 2) to begin development of a cadre of teams of lead teachers (two per team) capable of providing in-service training to other teachers in their local areas. The program will provide 168 teachers with 1) A laboratory-based, two-week workshop which will be held at one of four campuses of the California State University System, 2) a symposium on related ethical and social issues, 3) a follow-up meeting focused on the evaluation of supplementary curricular materials for the regular, honors, and advanced placement courses in biology, and 4) outreach support, via a mobile van and via scientist-educator partnerships. The two-week laboratory-based workshop will provide theory and methods in molecular biology, including transformation of bacteria and gene splicing. The workshop will also address strategies for the implementation of this material into the high school classroom. During a three day symposium, the ethical and social issues related to these techniques will be addressed. In the second year of the program, 12 teams of twenty-four former participants will be selected (team members chosen from the same local areas) and trained at San Francisco State University to lead local on-site workshops. The lead teacher training workshop will provide additional in-depth training in molecular biology, coupled with guidance in effective presentation to fellow teachers. Furthermore, it will provide guidance in 1) establishing local support for education projects in their communities, 2) the generation of industry support, and 3) obtaining grant funds. Cost sharing represents 90.0% of the NSF award.
