Summer 2002

Introduction:

The Summer Health Science Institute 2002 was a hands-on, intensive field camp for middle school science teachers.  During the first ten days of the program, participants attended presentations and field trips to gain first-hand knowledge about health science from the leading experts in the field. During the final five days, the participants used this knowledge to create the health science curriculum for the Spring Branch Independent School District, and will train other middle school educators on how to use this curriculum for the upcoming school year.

To be selected as a participant, teachers submitted an application and resume, and one teacher from each middle school campus (for a total of 10) was selected. Criteria for selection included general interest, background, and/or curriculum-writing skills. Of the teachers chosen, some had extensive backgrounds in biology and medicine, while others had very little. Some were experienced teachers, but others had just completed their first year teaching science. All taught on the middle school level, with some teaching honors or gifted/talented classes. The program was free to participants, who also received a monetary stipend for their curriculum-writing work.

Synopsis: Curriculum-Writing Using Community Resources

The main goal of this program was to provide professional middle school educators with the experience of learning first-hand about new and on-going medical research from the top professional medical researchers at the largest medical complex in the world.

Using the information gained from these community resources, the participants created a health science middle school curriculum for the Spring Branch Independent School District. This curriculum may also be adopted by other school districts, and will be available on the Internet, and a multi-media CD Rom is currently being created by another team that will be used in conjunction with this curriculum. This program will serve as a model for future programs using community resources in the curriculum-writing process.

During the program, participants:

	Received current resource materials from leading medical professionals and researchers to assist in teaching essential knowledge and skills about health science;
	Learned practical, usable teaching strategies for presenting health and medical concepts to students;
	Created easy, low-cost, and effective activities that help learn about health information and how to make proper health decisions;
	Received information on how to plan and develop additional relevant hands-on, multidisciplinary activities and lessons for classroom use;
	Learned about the history and development of medical tools and research;
	Learned about the history and development of the Medical Center Complex;
	Developed skills in locating and utilizing medical reference information from the Medical Center Library;
	Learned examples of career opportunities in medical and health-related fields;
	Developed or improve computer skills, such as advanced website design, which were used to create a collaborative website for the new curriculum;
	Participated in the creation of a middle school multi-media health science CD Rom, to be used in conjunction with the curriculum; and
	Participated in a daily fun and educational field trip, relevant to the topic of the day, to reinforce the information learned that day.

After the program, participants will:

	Participate in teacher-training, to train the other middle school teachers in the district on the use of this new curriculum;
	Have the opportunity to conduct seminars on this curriculum, and curriculum-writing using community resources, at state and local science conferences.

Schedule: