History: Troy Smith

The large project for the first semester involved an effort to help students understand the cultural ramifications of Indian Removal on the Five Civilized Tribes. Using multimedia learning aids and student-centered discussion techniques, Smith emphasized the significance of Place in native cultures. The students used online sources to prepare an illustrated first-person account of a fictitious Native American teenager experiencing removal. The results were very impressive. Smith's teacher-partner, William Sutton, declared that the students' resultant work was the best he had seen in fourteen years at the school.

Biology: Christopher Whalen

My GK-12 experience has been split between high school psychology and biology courses. In biology, the 'theme of the year' that is followed through each unit is neuroscience. Thus far students have investigated the scientific method using a computer driven stroop task which I created, built and researched neurotransmitters using chemical models and the internet, investigated the link between structure and function of cells with emphasis on the neuron, and learned about the action potential as well as ligand and voltage gated membrane protein channels. Future plans include creating NetLogo labs to simulate and learn about evolution, investigating neuroanatomy of the brain by a sheep's brain dissection, and linking brain structures to function using an actual cognitive neuroscience brain imaging data set.
 

Psychology: Christopher Whalen

Enrichment has been the focus. Presentations on brain imaging techniques, sleep and dreams, memory, stress and the brain, operant conditioning, perception, and statistics were met with enthusiasm. In all cases, emphasis was placed on making the lesson as interactive as possible. For instance, the statistics lesson had student in the computer lab (Excel) first working through an sample data from a memory experiment to calculate t-scores and p-values to ascertain the likelihood that the experimental manipulation was the cause for the differences between the experimental groups. Next, they applied what they were taught to their own data from a memory experiment/project that culminated the chapter. Similarly, the other lessons aspired to engaging students in a heuristic fashion.

Biology: Sharlene Denos

GK-12 Experience: I have developed a protein molecular visualization activity which was used in 15 biology classrooms at two high schools. The activity was used with mostly 14 year old honor students, but was also used with 14-17 year olds in a standard biology course, and 15-17 year old AP students. Students wrote reports, gave presentations, and built physical models from the computer visualization. Post activity surveys revealed that most students enjoyed the activity, that they learned as much or more from the activity than from conventional lectures, and that the learning was more student-guided and required less memorization than typical biochemistry lessons.