UT Southwestern will team with DISD to bring science to classrooms

by John P. Meyer

High-tech comes to biology instruction.

Working in collaboration with the Dallas Independent School District, UT Southwestern Medical Center will be sending "science suitcases" - loaded with high tech instructional aids - into the classrooms of 12 DISD high schools in the near future.

Inside the suitcases will be portable laboratories incorporating virtual microscopes and other lab devices along with interactive exhibits designed to stimulate the interest of young minds in the various scientific disciplines. Included in the mix will be manuals, posters, 3-D models and videos. The science suitcases are being assembled by UT Southwestern graduate students in the field of biomedical communication.

Providing the funding for these cutting edge marvels of science teaching is the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); much of the grant money will be used toward the development of four virtual lab instruments, including a virtual optical microscope designed to be operated by a student's computer mouse.

Beyond the scope of the science suitcases, selected DISD teachers will benefit from a "STARS Science Triathlon" consisting of a series of training events to begin in the summer of 2008. (STARS stands for Science Teacher Access to Resources at Southwestern.) The participating teachers will attend a 12-day workshop and continue their training via symposia held during the school year. The following summer, they will have a chance to participate in an eight-week research program at the UT Southwestern labs.

Dr. Joel Goodman, director of the STARS program (and a professor of pharmacology) explains that the various training and instructional materials and initiatives are geared towards helping teachers to improve their skill sets in biology instruction, with the aim of assisting them in establishing advance placement biology programs at their schools.

Says Goodman: “While the program itself is focused on 45 teachers and their students, its effect will be much broader. Assuming each teacher influences 150 young minds each year, in a decade our program can affect nearly 70,000 students. We also hope the Science Suitcases and virtual instruments, which would be broadly available, will extend the program’s influence much further.”

Both the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science and Austin-based software producer National Instruments are contributing their expertise and resources to the initiative.