Talking points for presentation on the Biotech Advisory Committee for the WA-ACTE conference on February 26, 2013:

     

    1. How do participants benefit by attending the biotech advisory meetings?


    ·   Sense of connection to the community and colleagues

    ·   Feel really supported because biotechnology is changing so rapidly, and our meetings provide opportunities for keeping updated

    ·   The meetings help to keep updated with science and are a reminder to make time for it in a busy day

    ·   It takes a long time to get a program going

    ·   The impact is on students, but also reaches throughout the school building community, school district, and across districts

    ·   Teachers raise the bar for each other through discussion and comparison of their programs

    ·   Being a student again through teacher PD is a useful experience, from the perspective of pushing their comfort zone, having the excitement of discovery and even participating in research, and being reminded of what it’s like to make mistakes (more empathetic attitude toward students)

    ·   The committee sometimes has tours of science labs and facilities, which deepens teachers’ understanding of lab process and potentially connects them to places they can take their students (e.g. Genome Sciences, the Stem Cell Research Lab at Lake Union)

    ·   The committee sometimes hosts speakers, which exposes the group to new science concepts

    ·   Donations of equipment from companies are very helpful

    ·   The Science Education Partnership (SEP) is a sustaining program—provides training plus ongoing support

    ·   Several industry partners are science education programs that provide ongoing support for biotech classes. They offer unique programs but also overlap to provide a continuous smorgasbord of offerings. Programs include SEP, Seattle Biomed (BioQuest), Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR), Genome Sciences Education Outreach (GSEO), and Shoreline Community College.

    ·   Several programs articulate with college programs offered at Shoreline Community College and other colleges

    ·   The committee has a WIKI for sharing education and industry reports, so we can use our meeting time for more specific topics

    ·   This professional group supports other aspects of science learning besides science content and experimentation, like writing and communication

    ·   The Student Bio Expo, a unique science fair hosted by NWABR, provides a venue for students to fulfill the communication requirement of the CTE course

    ·   (not discussed at meeting) The advisory committee provides participating science education programs with opportunities to work closely with teachers and learn from them what they need in their classrooms and how we can support them though our programs.


     

     

    2. What advice can we offer for beginning and growing a CTE biotechnology program?

    We did not discuss this topic at the meeting but should include it in the PowerPoint outline so teachers can contribute their ideas to it.

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