We recently enjoyed a reunion of teachers participating in our Bioinformatics, “Bio-ITEST” program — short for Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). more about Bio-ITEST
The three-year NSF grant provides funding for education outreach programs that help secondary school teachers and their students learn about how information technology is used in biological research. Major collaborators include Digital World Biology, EdLab Group, and Shoreline Community College.
Teachers Said about Bio-ITEST at NWABR
“At the end of this course, I feel like I could create my own lesson if I needed to.”
“This was an excellent professional development opportunity! It brought an emerging field of life science to my classroom that was not there before. I look forward to using this material for many years to come!”
“I enjoyed learning how to use the technology tools Cn3D, Jalview, and FinchTV. The Socratic seminar was excellent also and I now have an effective way to teach students about STEM careers.”
“Having specific activities in the curriculum that asked them to use Cn3D was much better than a simple demonstration of the program. The students really liked using Cn3D … A lot of my kids also downloaded it at home. They’d come in early to school.”
“To be honest, I didn’t even know what bioinformatics was when I signed up for the class, yet was able to implement the curriculum and teach my students the material the first time I tried it.”
Professional Development in Systems Biology
The reunion was generously hosted by the Institute for Systems Biology (an NWABR member) in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, at the global headquarters they opened just this month, May 2011. Below photos of everyone at the reunion are a few photos of ISB’s new headquarters and neighborhood.
ISB also provided professional development for teachers with Education Program Coordinator Claudia Ludwig, using their systems biology module, Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks. All teachers who attended received the Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks kit to use in their classroom!
We began with a reception and discussion of teachers’ experiences with the Bio-ITEST program:
Then, Education Program Coordinator Claudia Ludwig presented ISB’s systems biology module, Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks:
and teachers received the Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks kit to use in their classroom!
The new ISB global headquarters are beautiful, of course. Here are a few snaps of ISB and the neighborhood:
Brian Glanz from NWABR, reflected in a hallway at ISB.
Not ISB -- Across the street from ISB in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle
ISB lab coats hang inside a window, and Seattle rain keeps outdoor table tennis interesting.
The Bio-ITEST program at NWABR is made possible by an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers grant award from the National Science Foundation, DRL-0833779.
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