Danya International, Inc., proposes the development, evaluation, and promotion of a curriculum for seventh and eighth-grade students on genetics and current genomic research. The curriculum will consist of a teacher's guide with lessons on the teaching of genetics and genomic research, a discussion sheet that prompts student interaction on these topics and that can be taken home to parents or shared with friends, and a CD-ROM comprised of games, activities, quizzes, and additional information to support the lessons. These products have the following goals: to teach students about genetics, specifically, human genetic variation; to teach children about the importance of genomic research; to discuss the legal, social, and ethical implications of this research; to increase children's interest in genetics and science in general; and to provide teachers and parents with easy-to-implement, interesting, and informative materials about genetics. In Phase I of the project period, the content for the teacher's guide, discussion sheet, and the first module of the CD-ROM will be developed; approved by an expert panel; and evaluated by teachers, students, and parents. During Phase II, the teacher's guide and discussion sheet will be formatted, laid out, and printed; and the remainder of the CD-ROM will be programmed. Once these tasks have been completed, a comprehensive evaluation of the curriculum will be conducted in a number of schools, using a pretest/posttest control group study to determine if exposure to the program increases knowledge and positive attitudes about genetics and genomic research.
