UIUC Teaching Advancement Workshop Proposal
Applicant Information
Applicant Unit: University Laboratory High School
Campus Address: 1212 W. Springfield Ave., Urbana, IL, MC-254
Project Director: David M. Stone
Contact Phone Number: (217) 333-2870
Applicant Date: December, 1999
Requested Amount: $1,000
Workshop Information
Name of Workshop: " Microscopy and Entomology Workshop for Teachers Incorporating Bugscope into Their Teaching"
Proposed Dates: June 12 -15, 2000.
Cosponsors: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, UIUC Entomology Department, Illinois Natural History Survey
Support Information
Contribution from Lead Unit: $1000
Total Contributions from Cosponsors: $2000
Part I - Statement of Unit's Recent Teaching Improvement Activities and How This Workshop Will Advance the Unit's Developmental Programs
University Laboratory High School serves as an educational laboratory for research, development and leadership in the dissemination of innovative curricula and approaches to teaching and learning. In addition to dissemination through professional conferences and journal articles, teacher workshops have become a excellent way in which high school faculty disseminates many of their more hands-on initiatives.
In the sciences, University Laboratory High School has played a significant role in the development of technology-based projects including ChemViz (http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/edu/chemviz/) and Biology Workbench (http://bioweb.ncsa.uiuc.edu/educwb/). Most recently, University Laboratory High School has played a significant role in the development and operation of Bugscope (http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu), the newest of several web-based U of I initiatives, collectively called the World Wide Laboratory (http://wwl.itg.uiuc.edu), which allow users remote access to scientific instruments for research and education purposes.
Bugscope allows K-12 students the opportunity to study arthropod structural diversity using a remotely-controlled environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Using a standard World Wide Web browser and class-supplied specimens, classrooms throughout the world can access the ESEM for real-time remote examination of organisms, using instrumentation typically reserved for graduate students and scientists. Faculty, staff and students at the Beckman Institute and University Laboratory High School provide the supporting infrastructure for the project. Currently, four high school students have been trained to prepare specimens and run the $600,000 microscope during classroom remote observation periods. At this point, approximately 60 classrooms located throughout the U.S. and the Virgin Islands have signed up for single-hour, online microscopic examination of specimens they have collected and mailed to the Bugscope staff in Illinois. By Fall, 1999, we hope to have the interface developed such that Uni High students will also be able to take part in online, real-time discussions with students in the participating classrooms.
In addition to University Laboratory High School's recent focus in development of web-based teaching initiatives, it is has a strong history in the use of arthropods in teaching. In fact, Uni's Field Biology class received national acknowledgment in 1992, becoming the first pre-college level program to receive the Entomological Society of America's designation as an Exemplary Program Using Insects in Education, a designation given to a maximum of three academic programs per year.
The proposed workshop will play an essential role as a model for development of hands-on interdepartmental workshops centering around U of I web-based science teaching initiatives aimed at pre-college teachers, as well as serve as a key outreach opportunity for all cosponsors. We propose a single four day workshop which will accommodate twenty teachers. During the first day of the workshop participating teachers will develop skills in specimen preparation and use of several different types of state of the art microscopes (e.g. phase contrast, scanning and transmission electron microscopes) housed in the Microscopy Suite of the Beckman Institute. Faculty and graduate students affiliated with the Beckman Institute will provide the majority of the first day's instruction. Over the next three days teachers will have opportunity to learn how to make and use inexpensive arthropod collecting equipment (e.g. pitfall traps and Berlese funnels for extraction of soil arthropods), as well as take part in a number of different activities and simulations including cryptic coloration, development of aquatic predatory insects, fruitfly life cycles, vegetation sampling using a beater tray, observation of leaf litter organisms and sowbug habitat preferences. Instruction responsibilities for these activities will be shared by University Laboratory High School faculty, members of the Illinois Natural History Survey and University Laboratory High School students who played a role in their development during Summer, 1999. Teachers will also tour the Natural History Survey's Insect Collection, exploring worldwide insect diversity and go out in the field to collect arthropod data with Natural History Survey scientists who use aquatic insects as indicators of biological health of freshwater streams, ponds and rivers. Finally, teachers will tour the Entomology Department's Insectary, learn how to culture a number of different arthropod species, and leave with live mealworms, WOWBugs and Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches to develop their own colonies for classroom activities. Entomology Department Insectary staff will provide instruction, facilities, equipment and organisms for arthropod culturing activities. The workshop will culminate with Marilyn Bant, University Laboratory High School Development Officer, discussing grant writing strategies so that participating teachers can in turn present Bugscope-related workshops to other teachers in their districts and surrounding communities.
Teachers will develop skills in use of light microscopes peripherals, such as FlexCams, as well as state of the art microscopes housed at the Beckman Institute's Microscopy Suite. They will partake in a number of classroom activities using arthropods, some of which involve the use of spreadsheets and the Internet. They will develop a broader understanding of arthropod diversity through examination of specimens from countries throughout the world and gain practical experience in making inexpensive arthropod collection devices, as well as gain experience in the culture of different arthropod species, which student will be able to culture for various classroom activities. Teachers will also be provided with their own copies of several books and booklets dealing with different types of microscopy, as well as individual copies of How to Know the Insects (Bland), and Insects of the Great Lakes Region (Dunn).
Application to the program will be competitive, with all accepted teachers submitting an assessment of current classroom activities pertaining to microscopy and arthropod study. The assessment will be composed of Likert scale questions as well as free response components pertaining to current teacher background, classroom practice and teacher perception of classroom need in these areas. More specifically, Likert questions will deal specifically with teacher experience and knowledge of different types of light microscopes and higher end microscopes, as well as flexcams and digital cameras used in combination with light microscopes. The same type of questions will be asked regarding experience in working with different arthropod species and experience in performing the types of exercises outlined above. Free response sections will deal with classroom microscope usage and teacher determination of microscope needs. An identical assessment will be given at the end of the four day workshop, and also mailed to the workshop participants in November, 2000 for final assessment of the workshop and its impact on teaching and student learning. Additionally, the November, 2000 workshop assessment will ask teachers to evaluate the workshop in the context of what they have been able to utilize in their teaching, as well as suggest areas for workshop improvement. Finally, student learning assessment will be performed by Dr. Umesh Thakkar, Senior Scientist and Educational Evaluation Specialist at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
The immediate impact of the development of this proposal and presentation of the workshop will be development of a working relationship between the four campus units involved: University Laboratory High School, the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the UIUC Entomology Department, and the Illinois Natural History Survey. Just as importantly, the first iteration of this workshop will serve as an exceptionally useful model for participating teachers to use in developing their own shorter duration district and surrounding community workshops involving Bugscope and its accompanying activities. Finally, the proposed workshop will serve as an excellent model for the development of K-12 teacher workshops for other Worldwide Laboratory programs based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as initiatives at other universities throughout the world which allow users remote access to scientific instruments for research and education purposes.
Contributing Unit |
Contribution |
Expenses Covered |
Teaching Advancement Workshop Grant (Funds Requested Through This Proposal) |
$1000 |
Director Stipend |
| University Laboratory High School | $1000 |
Workshop Equipment and Supplies, Printing, Mailing |
| Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology | $1000 |
Microscope Time and Instruction, Microscopy Booklets and Books, Specimen Preparation Supplies |
| Entomology Department | $500 |
Live Specimens and Culturing Materials, Arthropod-Related Books |
| Illinois Natural History Survey | $500 |
Teaching Materials for Classroom Use During the Following Year |
Total |
$4000 |
Developed 6/17/99. Last Modified 6/22/99.