9354632 Reisert To enhance the science preparation of future teachers and encourage science majors to become teachers, the Department of natural Sciences and the Department of Education at Assumption College are developing an education laboratory section for the one semester introductory biology course,Concepts in Biology. This laboratory section will be designed for students who take the course to complete the laboratory science requirement for Massachusetts elementary school certification. Three weeks will be spent on each of the following topics: the cell, carbohydrate metabolism, photosynthesis and genetics. In the first week of the course the students will do the college -level exercises planned for all sections on these topics. In week two, with the assistance of science and education faculty, students select and design exercises for a particular elementary level. The students are graded on the portfolios they develop. Elementary school children will visit the College in the third week, through a collaboration with a local elementary school. The students will evaluate the exercise they have taught. By including an elementary school visit to each of the traditional labs science majors will also have an opportunity to teach.
