Partners in Health—Teachers, Students, Public — Phase II
Project Website(s)
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Abstract
The long range goals of this Phase II SEPA project at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) are to: 1) develop strategies to disseminate modules and the model developed under Phase I-SEPA to new teachers and students; 2) expand the program from its current students as well as blind students their teachers and counselors; and 3) establish a sustainable funding base from private and/or public sources to permit this expanded K-12 program to continue indefinitely. These goals can be reached by: 1) exposing more grade 7-12 teachers and students including the blind to the developed modules and model activities; 2) use 9 year’s experience in the grade 7-12 arena to continue to meet unmet needs of K-6 teachers and students in consultation with faculty in the College of Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 3) expand the current use of the Internet to reach directly to the K-12 student with interactive grade-appropriate activities; 4) establish and train Adevelopment groups@ consisting of several teachers from the same school to author grade appropriate computer assisted modules for students; 5) publish articles detailing a decade of experience in K-12 health science education by basic science and clinical faculty at UAMS; 6) involve more African-American teachers and students in the program by developing modules dealing with sickle cell anemia; 7) “pass the torch” by encouraging and helping other scientists at UAMS and other institutions of higher education to develop K-12 science and education programs in any science; and 8) establish an infrastructure for long term sustainable funding from public and/or private sources to keep the program going after the conclusion of Federal grant support.
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Additional Information
Additional Abstract 1: Partners in Health Sciences (PIHS) is a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) initiative that began in 1991 as a means for the only medical school in Arkansas to achieve a closer working relationship with the K-14 educational structure in the State. Initial funding for this program was provided by I. Dodd Wilson M.D. Dean of the College of Medicine with subsequent grant support from the Department of Higher Education under its Eisenhower program and a grant fromThe Kellogg Foundation. Beginning in 9/1/97 the PIHS program was funded by a Science Education Partnership Award from NIH/NCRR. UAMS faculty-most of them parents themselves-provide significant in-kind support to PIHS by volunteering to teach in the PIHS program. Each year the PIHS curriculum has been based on 1) teacher/student needs assessments 2) UAMS faculty areas of teaching excellence and 3) year-2000 health-education goals. Since its beginning in 1991 PIHS has grown to include: 1) a summer program of mini courses offered on the UAMS campus to K-14 teachers during June and July 2) weekly interactive television (ITV) broadcasts by UAMS faculty directly to grade 7-12 students throughout the state during the regular academic year 3) training workshops in Authorware in which selected teachers author CAI modules on health related topics which are posted to our web site 4) field trips to the UAMS campus for groups of grade 7-14 students and their teachers and 5) a monthly science night for students and their parents at a local science magnet high school. Between 1991 and 1999 814 different K-12 teachers have consumed 21972 hrs of CE in 63 different topics taught by 103 different faculty over 178 mini course days. Each of the 63 different topics presented in the mini course component are accompanied by a faculty prepared course syllabus. 5500 students have participated in the ITV outreach program 30 CAI modules have been developed by teachers 770 students havecome to the UAMS campus for field trips and about 150 different students and their parents have attended “science night” annually. Beginning in 1999 the PIHS program expanded its student outreach program to include students a the Arkansas School for the Blind. Additonal Abstract 2: This project will expand and disseminate a health-science education program developed in Phase I for teachers and students including blind students. Using the Internet and computer-assisted learning and telecommunication technologies the program will target additional grades 7-12 teachers and students in Arkansas and other states and will expand to grades K-6 teachers and students.
