The Harvard Medical School, in partnership with the community of Billerica and the Merrimack Valley Educational Collaborative, aims to develop an improved course of science education for levels 6-12th grade, focusing on the science related to drug abuse and addiction. This project will use the scientific method as the major pedagogical tool. Our goal is to assist 6-12th grade students to acquire a level of scientific literacy and critical thinking skills that will enable them to make informed decisions about the range of contemporary science-related issues they face, including choices about drug use, abuse and addiction. The Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership (SEDAP) project will develop up-to-date curricula, enable middle and high school students to learn about the additions in the context of the scientific method, and place students in exemplary learning environments that will stimulate their overall interest in the scientific domain. In addition, the project will provide training, consultation and supervision for science teachers in public education settings. Our specific objectives include: 1. Establishing a Science Education Advisory Panel, consisting of faculty from Harvard Medical School, teachers and curriculum developers from the Billerica school system and the Merrimack Valley Educational Collaborative, parents, students, and members of the community. Many of these individuals are already collaborating through the Harvard Medical School Community Partnership Program. 2. Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment for science education resource allocation. 3. Drawing on existing training programs developed jointly by Harvard and its community partners, the Panel and its workgroups will develop an up-to-date, innovative science curricula for grades 6-12 which uses the scientific method, hypothesis testing and case study analysis as the major pedagogical tools to teach youth about the science related to drug abuse and drug addiction. This multi-disciplinary curriculum also will integrate content about the impact of drug abuse and addiction through society. 4. Conducting in-depth teacher trainings and piloting the curriculum in the Billerica Community and the 22 school districts that form the Merrimack Valley Educational Collaborative, comprising an economically and ethnically diverse student population. 5. Forming the Addiction Science Corps, a cohort of multidisciplinary, multilevel, multi-cultural student trainees. Corps members will have intensive summer research internships at the Harvard Medical School, interning in social, basic and applied research settings where they will assist in the performance of cutting edge scientific investigations, and hone their own interests in scientific careers. Corps members also will have the opportunity to form mentoring relationships with Harvard scientists. 6. Evaluating the pilot effort and preparing the curriculum to be widely duplicated and disseminated.
| Knight, J R; Shrier, L A; Bravender, T D et al. (1999) A new brief screen for adolescent substance abuse. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 153:591-6 |
