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In the Lab: Discovering the "REaL" World of Science

Kennewick High School science teacher Nicole Bleich works in the biological modeling lab at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.


Trevor MacDuff, a Hanford High School science teacher, conducts research in solide oxide fuel development.

Story and Photos by Bracken Reed

Richland, Washington—In their powder blue laboratory coats, protective eyeglasses, and rubber gloves, each scientist in the laboratory could be straight out of central casting. And most of them are the real deal. But among the scientists using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy or cloning recombinant proteins into mammalian cell DNA vectors is a group of ten professionals who are not quite what they seem. Take off their protective eyewear and pull them out from behind the high-tech equipment, and they will confess to being more comfortable in front of a classroom full of teenagers.

As participants in a teacher professional development program run by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)—called the Research Experience and Leadership (or "REaL") Project—these 10 secondary school teachers have agreed to spend seven weeks of their summer break working side by side with actual scientists. It's an experience that can be both exhilarating and humbling.

"There's been an alarming increase in the amount of things I know nothing about," jokes Robin Andrew Metzger, a science teacher at Horse Heaven Hills Middle School in Kennewick, Washington. And according to his fellow participant, Teridee Newman, from La Center Middle School in La Center, Washington, that sensation may be the most valuable lesson of the entire project.

"This really puts me right in the same place as my students," says Newman. "It gives me a lot of empathy with them. It helps me remember what it's like to be out on the edge of my own understanding."

Putting the Pieces Together

According to Jeff Estes, the manager of science education programs at PNNL, a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory managed by Battelle, the REaL project grew out of a statewide companion project called Washington State LASER (Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform). "The LASER program is a school district-driven model," explains Estes. "We're trying to help school districts develop the capacity to design, initiate, implement, and sustain effective science education reform for all students."

Originally developed as a K-8 program, those involved with LASER soon saw the need for a complementary 9-12 program. "We understood that the program couldn't be successful unless it was systemwide," says Estes. "And the system is obviously K-12, not K-8. So we began to say, 'What can we do under the umbrella of LASER to expand our efforts to the high school level?'"

The answer came from two directions. First, the U.S. Department of Energy had already been looking to fund a professional development project—eventually called the Laboratory Science Teacher Professional Development (LSTPD) Program—that would give teachers hands-on experience in scientific laboratories. These intensive, laboratory-based, science and technology experiences were designed to enhance teachers' knowledge and skills and were focused on helping teachers use a teaching/learning model that parallels the way scientists uncover knowledge and solve problems. While this approach was the seed of the current REaL project, it needed more fertile ground in which to grow.

"We looked at [the initial proposal] and realized it wouldn't work as a stand-alone project," says Estes. "You can immerse teachers in the nature of science and technology; they can see firsthand what it's like to be a scientist; they can think about how that transfers to the classroom; but if they don't step back into a school system that values and supports what they're doing, and has a culture and plan for what they want to do, then the chances of them really making much impact have been minimized."

Rather than reinvent the wheel, PNNL looked at existing research-based, high school science reform programs that offered this kind of cohesive, systemwide approach. They eventually settled on a program called the National Academy for Curriculum Leadership (NACL), created by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), a nonprofit organization with roots stretching back to the late 1950s. One advantage of the model, besides its proven success, was its similarity to the K-8 LASER program, which made its implementation nearly seamless. In addition, both LASER and NACL had federal, state, and corporate support backing their implementation. This included funding from National Science Foundation, Agilent Technologies, Amgen, Battelle, Boeing, Dupont, Intel, Washington Mutual, the Washington State Office of Public Instruction, as well as PNNL.

A Comprehensive Approach

The REaL Project is the result of this long planning process. Spanning three years, it includes both teacher teams (with at least two teachers from each participating school or district), and the mandatory involvement of one key administrator. For maximum systemwide effect the program also requires the involvement of a "coach," who facilitates and focuses all reform efforts.

During the first year of the program, teachers participate in the seven-week laboratory research experiences, while the administrator and coach attend a Leadership Institute. Other conferences, called Leadership Academies, are also held in the winter and spring and include all team members. In the second and third years of the program, teachers, administrators, and coaches all attend conferences in the summer, winter, and spring as well. The final result is a long-term, collaborative, and systemwide program that goes far beyond single workshops or reform efforts that involve only one group of stakeholders.

For teachers, the heart and soul of the program is the seven-week summer research experience in the first year. Royace Aiken, the REaL program manager, works hard to find laboratory experiences that are authentic, challenging, and relevant to each teacher's interests as well as to their classroom curriculum. Aiken also coordinates the involvement of PNNL scientists and engineers, many of whom are leaders in their specialized fields.

At the center of the REaL philosophy is the idea that science teachers can improve their own instruction by putting themselves in the role of the learner—especially when their teachers are world-class scientists and the classroom is an actual working laboratory.

For Newman, and her La Center team member, Robert Raymond Hill, the laboratory experience has been both practical and motivational. "Just to realize that we're doing the same kind of work in the classroom as they're doing in top-notch laboratories has really been exciting," says Hill. "The content and level of complexity are different, but the process is absolutely the same. It's very applicable to the classroom."

That focus on the minute particulars of process has been the eye-opener for Newman. "This experience has really led me to realize the importance of the basics," she says. "Things like making sure your experiment is repeatable at least 10 times, and that you should only change one variable at a time, or that collecting as much data as you can is essential. It's really helped me to understand the way scientists work. The people here place an absolute importance on making sure that results are the best they can be."

At the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, involvement in public education is held to the same standards as laboratory work. And the results are equally impressive.