CCHS Science Teacher One of 19 Educators Worldwide Selected For Princeton University Summer Institute
Posted July 20, 2010
Jason Goldberg, a science teacher at Colonie Central High School, was one of only 19 teachers worldwide selected to attend a special institute at Princeton University this summer.
The goal of the institute, offered through a partnership between the Molecular Biology Department at Princeton University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is to help teachers bring cutting-edge molecular biology into their classrooms.
The summer institute for teachers is designed to give participants the hands-on laboratory experiences and tools to make a major impact in their own classrooms and schools. Teachers used sophisticated techniques and equipment to perform procedures such as DNA polymerase chain reactions (PCR), bacterial transformation, and DNA sequence analysis. Teachers at the institute were able to transform bacteria with a rainbow of fluorescent plasmids from Dr. Roger Tsien’s lab, separate the fluorescent proteins on an agarose gel, to test foods to see if they were genetically modified, and even to analyze their own DNA and mitochondrial DNA fingerprints from cheek cell samples.
A highlight of the institute was the opportunity to interact with leading researchers at Princeton University. Teachers had lunchtime discussion seminars with a large number of Princeton professors, including a Nobel laureate and a MacArthur Award winner.
“I think we succeeded in creating a stimulating, fun, and even inspirational experience for the teachers who were selected for the institute," said Professor Fred Hughson, program director. "They will bring a great deal of this excitement back to their classrooms in the fall, and with it, new skills that can make a major, long-term difference on the science they teach their students.”
During the school year, Princeton will support the teachers who have completed the institute in their efforts to enhance the molecular biology they teach. Princeton will loan teachers the otherwise cost-prohibitive equipment they will need, and supply the reagents, at no cost to either the teachers or their schools. This will give teachers the means to provide their students the same laboratory experiences they themselves had during the summer.
Dr. Ann Sliski, the outreach director, will also keep in close contact with the teachers who have completed the institute, and will provide the advice and assistance needed to make these goals a reality.
Goldberg said he is looking forward to using his new proficiency to bring exciting learning experiences to his classes for years to come.
“I find it important that we expose our students to not just the basic skills of science, but to the new techniques and protocols in the field of molecular biology that clearly is opening new windows of discovery on how life works and how all life is related,” he said.