Mary Jo Koroly

The Teacher Research Update Experience: Perceptions of Practicing Science, Mathematics, and Technology Teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine how the practicing science and mathematics teachers participating in the University of Floridas Teacher Research Update Experience (TRUE) perceived their experiences in Summer 2000. We conducted in-depth interviews and collected data from survey questionnaires and addressed research in the following areas: How do participants perceive their experiences during the 7-week program designed to enhance science, mathematics, and technology knowledge and skills? How have these experiences contributed to their professional and personal growth and development, and how will they influence teaching and student learning? Findings from interviews provided insights into the thoughts, motivations, and, in some cases, insecurities of these adult learners. Follow-up studies are indicated on long-term impact of immersion professional development programs.

Translating Current Science into Materials for High School via a Scientist-Teacher Partnership

Scientist-teacher partnerships are a unique form of professional development that can assist teachers in translating current science into classroom instruction by involving them in meaningful collaborations with university researchers. However, few reported models aim to directly alter science teachers’ practices by supporting them in the development of curriculum materials. This article reports on a multiple case study of seven high school science teachers who attended an ongoing scientist–teacher partnership professional development program at a major Southeastern research university. Our interest was to understand the capacity of this professional development program for supporting teachers in the transfer of personal learning experiences with advanced science content and skills into curriculum materials for high school students. Findings indicate that, regardless of their ultimate success constructing curriculum materials, all cases considered the research grounded professional development supports beneficial to their professional growth with the exception of collective participation. Additionally, the cases also described how supports such as professional recognition and transferability served as affordances to the process of constructing these materials. However, teachers identified multiple constraints, including personal learning barriers, their classroom context, and the cost associated with implementing some of their curriculum ideas. Results have direct implications for future research and the purposeful design of professional development experiences through scientist-teacher partnerships.

Analysis of nucleotides from Tetrahymena by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Abstract Procedures for the complete extraction and isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of cellular nucleoside di- and triphosphate are reported. Maximum nucleotide recovery from cultures of the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis is achieved if (a) cells are cooled to 4°C prior to harvest; (b) dicarbonic acid diethyl ester, a protein crosslinking reagent, is added prior to neurtralization of the cellular acid extract; and (c) 350 m m tri-n-octylamine in Freon is used as a neutralizing agent. These procedures also extend the useful lifetime of the Waters μBondapak NH 2 column used for high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Nucleoside triphosphates are resolved on this column in under 25 min using 125 m m ammonium phosphate, pH 3.15. Nucleoside diphosphates are separated by reducing the buffer concentration to 75 m m .