Hands-on science

NEA Today, May 1999

Job: Principal investigator and director, Elementary Science Education Partners, Atlanta, Georgia; professor of cell biology, Emory University Bright Idea: Thanks to DeHaan, elementary school teachers in Atlanta are learning more about science. And science undergraduates are learning more about teaching.

With a five-year, $5.7 million National Science Foundation grant. DeHaan has created a program that has turned 200 science majors from seven Atlanta universities into "elementary science education partners."

These college students team up with 1,700 teachers throughout Atlanta to invigorate science programs with a hands-on, inquiry-based approach.

DeHaan established a science resource center, now run by the Atlanta Public Schools, that distributes kits filled with all the materials needed to teach a specific unit-food chemistry, solids, magnetism, weather Teachers receive professional development credit after they are trained in using each kit. A teacher/college student pair has six to eight weeks to complete one kit. The kit is then returned to the resource center, restocked, and sent to another school.

DeHaan also provides a summer training institute for teacher-leaders who want to "take ownership of science reform in their schools" and ensure they have a say in changes that are made in the way science is taught. Impact: One school principal reports improved student comprehension on teachermade tests. More important, she says, "Science comes alive for these students. I even hear them at lunch talking about what they did in science class." As for the college students, at least 10 have changed their career plans to become full-time teachers.