Research Project
8716710
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neuroscience in Your World: A Partnership for Neuroscience Education Across the K-12 Spectrum. The Franklin Institute Neuroscience in Your World is an innovative collaboration between The Franklin Institute and the Center for Neuroscience & Society at the University of Pennsylvania to engage K-12 students and teachers in learning about the importance of neuroscience in their world. The proposed work will create a tiered set of learning experiences that frame core concepts of neuroscience in the relevant context of students' worldview at different developmental stages. Aligning cognitive goals and social development across the K-12 spectrum, the project will build the framework for a learning progression that, at younger grades, reaches a very broad audience at an introductory level of scientific content and, at higher grades, targets increasingly focused audiences with deeper levels of experience. Program content will focus on topics in brain function, learning, social behavior, and societal impacts of neuroscience, emphasizing personal aspects of health and behavior that influence how we perceive and interact with the world around us. The project will include a combination of field trips to and programs delivered at The Franklin Institute, courses implemented at nearby high schools and a digital toolkit of educational materials and teacher professional development resources that will be distributed online. Summative evaluation will determine the effects of the project components on participating students and teachers from the Philadelphia region. Evaluation methods will include pre-post student surveys, teacher surveys, and on-site observations, using for comparison either a waiting group for field trip evaluation or a simulcast group for on-site course evaluation. The suite of programs developed through this project will create the foundation for a successful and sustainable infrastructure for neuroscience education in Philadelphia and beyond.
