This project is developing and testing a cell culture/stem cell research curriculum for high school students to be taught in a community college setting. This nine-week course (1 hour lecture, 3 hours lab per week) introduces high school students and their teachers to the basics of cell culture and stem cells, covering topics such as: aseptic technique, counting cells, cell/stem cell culture maintenance, transfection, cytotoxicity, fluorescence labeling and stem cell differentiation. Practical experience includes use of common laboratory equipments such as micropipettes, centrifuges, inverted and fluorescent microscopes. The students gain valuable hands-on experience, while learning in a college atmosphere.
Stem cell research is one of the top research fields in the bioscience industry, due to its potential for the development of life-saving drugs and therapies, and it is becoming more widespread across the nation. For students considering pursuing a research career, this path is both interesting and challenging.
The objectives include the following: 1. Field test the high school stem cell/cell culture curriculum at two other community colleges that share the goal of educating high school students, particularly reaching out to underrepresented populations, and obtain feedback from the two field test sites to improve the curriculum. 2. Obtain industry input into the curriculum design and modify accordingly. 3. Disseminate the curriculum through national networks for use at other community colleges.
The field test partners are Alamance Community College (Graham, North Carolina) and Austin Community College (Texas). The City College of San Francisco is also expanding its own offering of this course to other San Francisco high schools, particularly those that serve large numbers of historically underrepresented students (African American, Latino/a, and Filipino/a).
Intellectual Merit. The intellectual merit of this proposal resides in a number of its features. First, it focuses on the emerging stem cell research sector that holds the promise of great social and economic benefit. Second, industry participation in this project ensures that the curriculum is relevant to and current with industry needs.
Broader Impacts. The Project achieves broader impacts through a variety of means, including, in particular, its connection to Bio-Link, the national ATE center in biotechnology. Through the Bio-Link network, the project has considerable opportunities to share its products and findings with community colleges throughout the nation, particularly through the Summer Fellows Forum and Curriculum and Instructional Materials Clearinghouse. In addition, its objective to target high schools with high enrollments of traditionally underserved students impacts students in San Francisco and also those at other colleges that adopt similar strategies.
