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Nuggets 2004

In Project SCORE, fellows from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) teach in Fort Worth ISD high school biology classrooms. Besides their regular classroom assignments, fellows participated in after-school tutorial programs at several campuses. At one of our schools, a classroom was available for tutoring of students who were having difficulty with science concepts. A veteran fellow worked with these students to help them gain concept understanding and mastery in preparation for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) examination. The classroom teacher saw improvement in the participating students understanding of science, and better grades were achieved on exams. Overall, our biology teachers saw improvement in the fellow's classroom presentation skills and would highly recommend the program to their colleagues. Enhancement of communication skills and time management were among many positive comments noted by faculty mentors about the fellows.

In addition, faculty mentors were very positive about the program, and saw it as a valuable asset to the school and to the fellows' development in their graduate research programs. Several of our fellows were using their acquired classroom skills by teaching at community colleges. For area science teachers, we added the "Teachers As Scholars" workshop. Project SCORE and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation fund this collaboration. Fifteen science teachers were invited to our campus for lecture and laboratory sessions on the "Anatomy, Histology and Physiology of the Cardiopulmonary System". Surveys from participants indicated that knowledge gained from the workshop would be beneficial to their students, and they planned to use it in their classrooms.

Finally, Project SCORE teamed with one of our high schools and the GSBS to encourage and promote science fair projects. Plans are underway to have more FWISD high school biology students involved with science fair project development and presentation.