Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Van Doren once said, "The art
of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." The truth of this
statement was recently underscored at a TGen/NAU-hosted hands-on
genomics workshop for high school teachers designed to boost their
bioscience expertise.
In July, 24 teachers from across Arizona had the opportunity to
learn first hand from TGen researchers about the hottest areas of
genomic science including cytogenetics, DNA sequencing,
bioinformatics, and drug discovery. The workshop also served as a
forum to discuss science education and introduce teachers to
Phoenix-based biotech facilities such as the University of Arizona
College of Medicine-Phoenix in collaboration with Arizona State
University, the ASU Biodesign Institute and TGen labs.
The workshop gave teachers an opportunity to learn about genomics in an interactive, hands-on environment thanks to support from TGen's educational partners: NAU, BioRad, Fisher, SRP, VWR and the Arizona Science Center.
"The amount of energy and enthusiasm these top-tier science teachers brought to the workshop was tremendous," said Dr. Candice Nulsen, TGen Education Program Manager. "The exchange of information went both ways-we taught them about the latest genomic technologies and they educated us about what is needed to bring biotech to Arizona classrooms."
The workshop is one educational component of a three-year grant
awarded to TGen and Northern Arizona University (NAU) from the
Arizona Board of Regents to increase Arizona high school teachers'
content knowledge, awareness of rapid advances in biotechnology,
current and future uses of biotechnology, and hands-on laboratory
skills.
The week-long seminar is one component of a three-year grant
awarded to TGen and Northern Arizona University (NAU) from the
Arizona Board of Regents to expand Arizona high school teachers'
knowledge about biotechnology.
The program, called Biotechnology for Teachers: A Link Between Content and Real-World Application, is an Improving Teacher Quality project that will receive $122,000 for the first year and additional funding for the following two years.
TGen, in collaboration with NAU's College of Engineering and Natural Sciences and the Center for Science Teaching and Learning, are implementing the program through the Chino Valley School District, the Tuba City School District and Mesa Public Schools.
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TGen would like to thank the following educational partners who helped make year's workshop an overwhelming success:
SRP
BioRad
Fisher
NAU
VWR
The Arizona Science Center
