9550098 Rankin With this project the exploratorium creates a national leadership institute, the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry, which combines its extraordinary facilities and resources supporting scientific inquiry with a "local laboratory" of Exploratorium- stimulated district science education reform projects. Designed to foster high quality inquiry-based teaching and learning in the nation's elementary schools, the Institute for Inquiry will provide educators from across the country with advanced professional development opportunities to augment science reform initiatives already underway as well as support the development of inquiry innovation in the local laboratory. The five year project will create a nexus of practitioners committed to changing elementary school science and provide a gathering place to integrate the experiences, ideas and insights of the nation's inquiry designers and implementers. Through a unique combination of theory and practice, the Institute will give at least 800 elementary educators, from all strata of the field -- such as lead and resource teachers, science resource teachers, administrators, informal science educators, principal investigators of science education reform projects, scientists, university educators and national leaders in the field -- an unusual and powerful opportunity to explore inquiry-based teaching and learning. Its components include two and three week workshops designed to provide professional developers with in-depth inquiry experiences in science and learning, four day seminars for reform implementers with initial exposure to inquiry instruction, and two day forums with provide platforms for vigorous debate and review by national leaders on critical topics in inquiry. These activities will build upon a local laboratory of inquiry innovation including advanced inquiry projects, Exploratorium associate schools practicing inquiry, and classroom teacher workshops. An ongoing Inquiry Network for p articipants will consist of an annual proceedings publication and an Internet-based electronic communication network. The cost sharing is 42% of the NSF award. ***
