Molecular Education - Proposal

See also:

3. Proposal

3.1.1 Recruiting PhD candidates and relation to existing PhD programmes

The Hasselblad graduate school should interact with existing PhD programmes, in the departments as well as CUL (in Göteborg) and the national graduate school, FoNT-D (with one node in Karlstad). The molecular platform brings an additional core to the GC-PLUS effort, with molecular science as an example of public understanding to be studied.

The recruiting for the school should aim for people with a solid background within the molecular sciences, but with a strong interest in education. They could be working as teachers, doing their PhD studies halftime, as in the CUL school. Possibly we could also enrol teachers funded by their schools, as in the CUL model (CUL does not accept any new students in 2007 - this could be an important complement). We also consider providing an alternative exit for students who have started PhDs in molecular science.

We propose seven PhD students, at least two at each university, financed for part time (50%) graduate studies. This means that there are a number of different possibilities. Students with a masters degree can be accepted to go for a licentiate degree (this is ideal for in-service teachers). Students that have finished a licentiate degree be accepted for a PhD degree. A university can co-finance the other 50% and thus accept a student that goes for a PhD in four years.

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See also 3.1.2 Research programme

3.2 Hasselblad graduate courses

The course packet for these students need discussions during the spring and should have a different design for students with and without teaching degrees. Obviously, a relatively large portion needs to address learning theory as well as methods used in educational science. We will construct a curriculum, using input from other graduate programmes, including CUL [18], FoNTD [19], CILS [20] and SESAME [21]. New graduate courses developed should also be open to interested PhD students within the more traditional science PhD programmes. A course in "didactics" as well as additional courses on methods in educational science is of particular interest. The possibility to arrange courses in the format “The Hasselblad summer school” will be further considered.

3.3 Hasselblad seminars

The Hasselblad seminars will be the organizing element that adds cohesion to the group of PhD students and their supervisors. In order to form a unique research programme, we need to learn more about existing research and research programmes in this area. The seminars will be organized by the faculty and include both student and faculty talks. We will also invite international researchers to share their research questions and results and give an overview of the field and to add new perspectives to the discussions. The seminars will be coordinated with activities in the CUL graduate school. Thesis advisors are expected to take part in these seminars together with their students, but the seminars are open also for teachers in school, university researchers and science centre personnel and other people with an interest in a molecular based education and in educational research in this area.

3.4 Molecular Frontiers

Molecular Frontiers [22] is an international project aiming at improving the understanding and appreciation of molecular sciences. In 2007, Molecular Frontiers will open MoleClues, a new Web site that will offer science- based internet activities for teenagers, with molecules as the key component. The objective of the internet activities is to stimulate teenagers to explore how molecular events affect their lives, how their future can be influenced by molecular sciences and invite them to participate.

A global society of scientists constitutes the backbone of Molecular Frontiers, and Chalmers is a central node in this network. Via the Web site, teenagers will be invited to ask questions about molecular science and receive a response from a graduate student somewhere in the world, who will encourage follow-up questions and a deeper penetration into the subject. Prizes will be given to the teenagers who ask the “best” questions. For the graduate students that commit to this effort, the reward will be an opportunity to interact with scientists all over the world and to improve as educators.

In order to catch the attention of teenagers, the Web site needs to maintain a very high standard in terms of design and functionality. For the development of the Web site, professional Web designers need to be engaged. The necessary competence is available in the Göteborg region. For example, a local web bureau was used in the development of the Molecular Frontiers Web site [www.molecularfrontiers.org]. A high level of interactivity is also required, e.g. by hiring professional game developers to create online games that connect to the various scientific themes that will be included in the Web site. We also intend to collaborate with the "IT" programme at Chalmers, where students might develop and evaluate suitable games as diploma works.

A Web site like MoleClues needs to be continuously updated and improved. In the process of creating material for the Web site and deciding the most efficient ways of presenting it, knowledge in scientific education is necessary. Hasselblad graduate students could play a key role in this process, and the Internet medium will serve as a “laboratory”, where different models for communicating science can be tested and the response from the teenagers can be monitored directly. Also school teachers will be very important to engage in the process of developing the site to make it attractive and informative to children, and to assist the teachers in their work. We will collaborate with teachers and administrators from the West-Swedish schools to create opportunities for evaluating new activities, testing them on school children to get their opinions and input in order to generate new ideas for development of the internet presentations.

Molecular Frontiers will be funded from a number of external sources such as VR, VINNOVA; ESF and the Nobel Foundation together with the Hasselblad Foundation. Chalmers also put money on this project. A possible extra resource in the work with Molecular Frontiers might be Sten Ljungström from Universeum. He will be evaluated for an adjunct professorship which is thought to be closely linked to the development of Molecular Frontiers.

3.4 The Hasselblad courses for in-service teachers

The intention is to offer courses to the in service-teachers on a regular basis, each semester. These courses are aimed to reach the teachers that are actually teaching science at all levels and to stimulate them to use a molecular approach in their daily work with the children. The courses shall have an attractive content, being both practical and theoretical. One part of the courses can be presentations of the findings from the Hasselblad graduate students. The courses shall be free for the teachers and their schools. Marketing directed not only to teachers but also to school administrators (to make them interested in having their teachers on the courses and inform them of the purpose and outcomes of the program as it impacts their schools)

References ... cont

  1. CUL, Centrum för Utbildningsvetenskap och Lärarforskning, http://www.ufl.gu.se/forskarutb/cul/
  2. FoNTD, Forskarskolan i Naturvetenskapernas och Teknikens Didaktik, http://www.liu.se/fontd/
  3. CILS - Center for Informal Learning and Schools, http://www.exploratorium.edu/cils/
  4. SESAME, Studies in Engineering, Science And Mathematics Education http://www-gse.berkeley.edu/program/SESAME/sesame.html
  5. Molecular Frontiers, http://www.molecularfrontiers.org
http://physics.gu.se/~f3aamp/mol/proposal.html
2007-02-26