[August 18, 2008]

Program to rejuvenate hands-on science education in San Mateo County: Gene Connection to donate laptops, equipment in effort to enhance learning

(San Mateo County Times, San Mateo, Calif. Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 18--REDWOOD CITY -- Organizers of a long-running science-education program hope to infuse new excitement among San Mateo County high school teachers and their students.

This new school year, a retooled Gene Connection program -- a two-decade partnership between the county Office of Education and Canada College -- will provide high schools 18 new Apple laptops and other equipment for use in lab projects.

The renewed effort should boost project-based biotechnology and chemistry instruction in a time when hands-on science education is being challenged by school budget cuts and an increased focus on curriculum standards set by the state, organizers say.

"Most schools don't have money for labs and have less funding," said Gene Connection educator Kim Marie Hansen. "More and more teachers in science are not doing labs and just teach from the book" because they're trying to follow state standards.

Gene Connection tries to address those issues by bringing lab gear and projects to the schools and letting teachers know they can lead hands-on experiments that comply with standards, organizers say.

"Teachers see they're hitting the standards but in a different way while keeping up the kids' interest," said Gene Connection administrator Gary Nakagiri. "If it's not interesting, it doesn't matter what the standards are because kids will say, 'Forget science,' and get bored."

The new laptops will help students analyze data and

become familiar with using computers in lab work, said educator Melody Yang.

The Macs are in addition to existing laptops, she said. "We're very excited to have more. It allows us to reach 50 percent more students."

Students this year will also have new spectrophotometers for measuring light intensity, she said.

Moreover, the program is developing new curriculum as part of a National Science Foundation grant to help students pursue a career in the field and offering new lab projects in biotechnology and chemistry, organizers say.

The revamped effort coincides with the program moving into new digs as part of the ongoing campus renovations at Canada.

In the previous space, "we were much more cramped," Yang said. But the new room "gives us state-of-the-art equipment."

That equipment includes devices that sterilize material and prepare solutions, she said.

The move to a new lab enables the program "to be more efficient to support our kids and teachers when we go out to the schools," Nakagiri said.

Staff writer Neil Gonzales covers education. He can be reached at 650-348-4338 or ngonzales@bayareanewsgroup.com.

To see more of the San Mateo County Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/.

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