Teachers from nearby communities--including Champaign, Normal, and Danville in Illinois--and distant communities such as California, South Carolina, and New Jersey, joined us for our fourth summer of professional development workshops. The NEURON Teachers' Institute (NTI) offered three different sessions, each with its own theme, this summer for teachers previously unfamiliar with our activities.
Project NEURON fellows Claire Scavuzzo, Sara Patterson Adamek, and Kristen Talbot led Session 1 (June 3- June 8). Session 1 focused on the What makes me tick...tock? and What can I learn from worms? units; the workshop was held at the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), as part of the growing collaboration between Project NEURON and the IGB. Drs. Megan Mahoney and Phil Newmark, both Neuroscience professors at the University of Illinois, gave talks on their research and connections to the Project NEURON units highlighted in Session 1.
Project NEURON fellows Rob Wallon, Tommy Wolfe, and Kristen Talbot led Session 2 (June 10-15). This session focused on the Do you see what I see? and What changes our minds? (Toxicants) units with workshop activities held at Colonel Wolfe School at the University of Illinois. Drs. Becky Fuller, Carla Caceres, and Bettina Francis gave presentations at this session, discussing their research and the connections to the Project NEURON units highlighted in Session 2.
Finally, Dr. Claudia Lutz, current Media Communications Specialist at the IGB, and Chandana Jasti, Project NEURON project manager, led Session 3 (June 24- 29). This session focused on the What changes our minds? (Drugs) and Why dread a bump on the head? units. Workshop activities were held at both Colonel Wolfe School and the IGB. Luke Sherrill, a graduate student from Josh Gulley’s lab group gave a research talk on the effects of drugs on the nervous system while Dr. Patrick Watson and James Monti, postdoc and graduate student (respectively) in the Neuroscience Program at the University of Illinois, gave a talk about their research on traumatic brain injury.
Teachers had the opportunity to engage in student activities from the various lesson plans created by Project NEURON fellows and evaluate these activities for use in their own classroom. They also explored research-based methods of engaging students in the disciplinary core ideas, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards.