GEORGIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SFN ANNUAL MEETING
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NR-12-05 (sent 11/04/05) For more information, please call Sara Harris at (202) 462-6688.
GEORGIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SFN ANNUAL MEETING
WASHINGTON, DC, November 4 – Two local educators—one teacher and one neuroscientist—are one of six pairs nationwide to win an award for their innovative work bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
John Pecore, science and health teacher at The Galloway School in Roswell, and Dr. Melissa Demetrikopoulos at the Institute for Biomedical Philosophy in Atlanta won a 2005 Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Travel Award to attend Neuroscience 2005, the Society for Neuroscience’s scientific meeting in Washington, DC, November 12-16. For the first time, the Society for Neuroscience award recognizes teachers working in partnership with researchers.
Pecore was a summer 2002 GIFT (Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers) fellow, during which he taught in-service teacher workshops and middle school summer science programs, and started a working relationship with the Center for Behavioral Research, a National Science Foundation science and technology center. It was there that he formed his ongoing partnership with Demetrikopoulos. Two other scientists and SfN members, Laura Carruth and Kyle Frantz, both of Georgia State, also collaborate with Pecore. At the meeting, he says, “I hope to learn how other teachers are integrating neuroscience into their curriculum and get ideas about how to improve my practice.” He is also looking forward to sharing his own insights about science education, particularly the teaching of ethics.
Demetrikopoulos attributes the success of the relationship to leaving both scientists and teachers to do what they know best. While scientists are experts on the current knowledge, teachers have the best pedagogic information. Demetrikopoulos says, “When we work with the teachers, we always feel like we get the better end of the deal, and the teachers always feel that they get the better end of the deal.” Being able to share those successes and finding out what’s working in other parts of the country are her goals for the meeting.
At Neuroscience 2005, each pair of partners will participate in a planning workshop to develop long-term teacher-neuroscientist partnerships, including a summer institute. Awardees will also have the opportunity to attend the wide variety of scientific sessions available at Neuroscience 2005, including lectures on neurotransmitters, healthy aging, and meditation. In addition, there are several education-related workshops designed to help teacher awardees focus more on the needs of their classrooms at home.
The Society’s Committee on Neuroscience Literacy is looking to the long term in sponsoring educator pairs this year. While praising earlier teacher travel awards as “a great experience for the teachers,” committee Chairman Dr. William Cameron notes, “It was unclear if these experiences ever led to a connection with neuroscientists in their local area.
“The new partnership awards give us the opportunity to explore the elements of existing successful partnerships that might serve as models for members of the Society interested in engaging K-12 teachers and students,” he adds.
More than 30,000 scientists from around the world will gather to present and discuss the latest developments in neuroscience research at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, which will feature nearly 17,000 presentations covering research ranging from single molecules to human behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 37,000 members, is the world’s largest organization of basic researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
