The 2018 summer workshops offered by the Office of Biotechnology at Iowa State University are designed especially for educators in public and private schools or those who work with youth in 4-H or other community programs. Educators are invited to attend one or more of the workshops to strengthen and update their STEM-based curriculums with modern content, techniques, and activities in biotechnology and bioethics, while earning professional development or Iowa State University graduate credits.
The workshops will be held in the Biotechnology Outreach Education Center (BOEC), 1320 Molecular Biology Building, on the Iowa State campus in Ames. A $100 per day stipend is available to help Iowa teachers cover their costs of attending. ISU Extension and Outreach educators or personnel can receive travel reimbursements of up to $100 per day to help cover their expenses.
Iowa teachers and ISU Extension and Outreach educators who complete any of the workshops are eligible to receive free supplies and equipment for specific lab protocols from the Office of Biotechnology.
Funded By
Materials and stipends for the following workshops are funded by Iowa State’s Office of Biotechnology and/or by the Iowa Biotechnology Association.
For More Information
For more information about the biotechnology education workshops, contact Mike Zeller or Lori Miller toll-free in Iowa at 800 643-9504, or e-mail mzeller@iastate.edu or lorimill@iastate.edu. For more information about the bioethics workshop, please contact Clark Wolf at 515 294-3068 or e-mail jwcwolf@iastate.edu.
Register for Workshops
To register for any workshop, please contact Lori or click here to register online.
Registration deadline: May 29, 2018
Workshop Descriptions
Biotechnology Education Workshop I
Iowa State University, Ames
June 11-14, 2018
This workshop course is directed at science, agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and ISU Extension and Outreach educators who want to gain the basic knowledge and laboratory skills necessary to teach biotechnology in their classrooms.
Teachers will learn how to prepare and instruct the laboratories in DNA extraction and quantification from various sources, DNA transformation, DNA fingerprinting, antibiotic resistance, biofuels, and more. Educators will prepare and perform the lab protocols as the students would do in class.
Credits
- 2 professional development credits – $70
- 2 ISU graduate credits – $497 per credit
Stipend
- $400 stipend for Iowa teachers ($100 per day) funded by the Iowa Biotechnology Association
Travel
- Travel reimbursement available for ISU Extension and Outreach educators/personnel (up to $100 per day)
Registration deadline: May 29, 2018
Bioethics Workshop I
Iowa State University, Ames
June 18-21, 2018
This course is designed for educators who want to incorporate discussion of ethical issues into existing science courses. Participants will create case studies designed to integrate ethical content in the science curriculum, and which might also be used to address such issues for extension audiences. The focus will be on ethical issues in science education, including especially agricultural biotechnology. Several other bioethics topics will also be covered.
Participants will work through activities and case studies that they can take home and use in their classes. During the workshop, participants will be divided into groups. Each group will develop a study on a topic relevant to students who take their classes.
The workshop will also address some pedagogical issues, including appropriate objectives for bioethics units; alternative approaches to bioethics pedagogy; how to relate bioethics issues to personal ethical issues familiar to students; how to help students identify ethical issues; how to address bioethics while respecting diversity of views in the classroom; and assessment for bioethics units. Participants will leave with classroom-ready case study exercises for use in their own classes.
Credits
- 2 professional development credits – $70
- 2 ISU graduate credits – $497 per credit
Stipend
- $400 stipend for Iowa teachers ($100 per day)
Travel
- Travel reimbursement available for ISU Extension and Outreach educators/personnel (up to $100 per day)
Registration deadline: May 29, 2018
Biotechnology Education Workshop II
Iowa State University, Ames
June 25-28, 2018
This advanced workshop is open to science, agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and ISU Extension and Outreach educators who have attended one of the previous biotechnology workshops.
Educators will learn how to prepare and instruct advanced biotechnology laboratories in their classrooms. Activities will include marker assisted selection, DNA isolation, recombinant DNA techniques, DNA amplification, restriction analysis of DNA, bioinformatics, sequencing, genomics, and more. Educators will prepare and perform the lab protocols as their students will do in class.
Credits
- 2 professional development credits – $70
- 2 ISU graduate credits – $497 per credit
Stipend
- $400 stipend for Iowa teachers ($100 per day) funded by the Iowa Biotechnology Association
Travel
- Travel reimbursement available for ISU Extension and Outreach educators/personnel (up to $100 per day)
Registration deadline: May 29, 2018
