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Reaching out
Three distinct programs coordinated by Adah Leshem-Ackerman match up
high school teachers, students with ISU researchers.
- Carte blanche.
That's what Adah Leshem-Ackerman was given when she was hired as the outreach
coordinator for Iowa State's Plant Genomics outreach program in the Department
of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology. Leshem-Ackerman took her bosses
up on their word and quickly went to work developing what she considers
to be an outreach program that will have a continual impact on education.
"I felt that if we reached out to the K-12 teachers that would have
a greater impact on education than anything else we could do," she
said.
With no money to work on any projects, Leshem-Ackerman went forward writing
grants to start the program. By the summer of 2003, she had secured funding
for the "Summer Research Experience for Teachers" program. The
National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored project offers 7-12 grade pre-service
and in-service biology teachers a hands-on research opportunity under the
mentorship of a distinguished group of faculty in the areas of molecular
biology, biotechnology and genomics.
The program is primarily for high school teachers from central Iowa. The
teachers spend seven weeks on campus during the summer working in a faculty
lab. Prior to starting in the lab, the participants undergo a weeklong training
program to get them acclimated to working in a lab. At the end of the program,
the teachers are responsible for preparing a poster on their research.
"Many high school biology teachers may teach biology, but few have
any experience working in a research lab," Leshem-Ackerman said, "and
even if they do it has been years since they've been in a lab and are not
up to date on recent molecular biology or biotechnology developments.
"At the end of the program they've been provided the tools, experiences
and ongoing relationships with career scientists that they can share with
their students and inspire them with a desire to learn more about science
and a scientific career path."
That first year, five high school biology teachers participated. It grew
to 10 teachers the following two years. Last summer, Leshem-Ackerman obtained
additional funding for pre-service teacher training. The students, primarily
senior science education majors, were paired not only with an Iowa State
faculty member but also with a high school teacher who was in the program.
"Many of these students don't have the opportunity to do research projects
while they are an undergraduate student," Leshem-Ackerman said. "Now
after this program, they can go into their high school classroom with this
type of experience and a greater understanding of scientific research."
It's not all lab work for the teachers. Seminars and informal discussion
sessions are held every week. The teachers work in the lab at least 30 hours
a week.
The NSF funding provides a $4,750 stipend for the teachers in the program.
Leshem-Ackerman hopes to obtain additional funding from the Department of
Energy so she can offer a similar program in the physical sciences by the
summer of 2008. If that program gets underway it will be just the latest
in a series of outreach programs Leshem-Ackerman coordinates. A second program
is a partnership with Ames High School that offers internships for juniors
and seniors in research labs on campus in the biological and physical sciences.
"Students come in for a semester and work nine hours a week on a research
project," she said. "These are very motivated kids and our faculty
have been very generous with their time in this program."
A third project, Partnerships for Research and Education in Plants (PREP),
just started this year and is an off-shoot of a similar program started
at Virginia Tech. Iowa State is one of four other institutions participating
in the NSF and National Institute of Health initiative. Five Iowa high schools
are participating.
Students at those high schools are growing Arabidopsis plants, which is
the basic plant used by biologists in many research projects.
"Students grow not only model Arabidopsis plants but also grow mutant
plants from seeds provided by our faculty members," Leshem-Ackerman
said. "They are given both wild and mutant seeds to plant. During the
semester, the students collect data, observe the differences in the plants
and analyze the data before sending it back to the faculty members. This
is a great hands-on lesson in genetics and biotechnology.
"PREP is just one example of what ISU can offer school systems,"
she continued. "And I feel I'm contributing to the educational system
because of this outreach."
Adah Leshman-Ackerman
Around LAS
January 22 to February 4, 2007
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