Projects

Nanoscience Instructional Materials Development Project Evaluation
2004 to 2008

With the emergence of nanoscience, which brings together medicine, industry, environmental management, among other disciplinees, as a hotbed of scientific activity, a number nanoscale science and engineering programs have sprung up at the undergraduate and graduate levels of education; however, there is a strong need for nanoscience education in earlier grades to both increase students' scientific literacy and prepare them for further study in the field. SRI is developing a set of curriculum units to explore the interdisciplinary connections between traditional scientific domains forged by nanoscience research. The curriculum units and accompanying instructional materials are aimed at high school students. CCT is evaluating the project in three phases: phase one provides early feedback on pilots of each new unit, phase two includes broader scale testing of the units within diverse groups of teachers, and phase three involves training large groups of teachers in a broad set of classrooms.

STAFF

Ellen Mandinach (PI)