17 September 1996 Lincoln again offers professional development courses for NZ Science teachers

Teachers from all over New Zealand have been overwhelming in their enthusiasm for Lincoln University's professional development courses. In response to requests, three new courses will be scheduled in 1997, with something offered for teachers of Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Technology, Agriculture, Horticulture, and Home Economics.

All courses will be designed to assist teachers in implementing the new curricula.

Teachers will hear and see results from the cutting edge of research as well as carry out practical lab work that is straightforward to prepare. A booklet of classroom ready materials will be provided for each course. Lectures, labs and field work will be based on contexts that are both familiar and of high interest to high school students. Encouraging students to set up their own experimental projects, to recognise potential applications for technology, and to consider ethical questions, will be given high priority.

Staff for the courses will be drawn from University lecturers, many of whom are already well known to secondary school teachers from their previous activities in the University's interface with schools, including Jon Hickford and Bob Crowder.

All courses are scheduled for Friday afternoon and Saturday, to minimise the cost of relieving teachers, as requested by previous participants.

1997 Courses:

Enzymes in Action which will look at enzymes as biological catalysts, how they function in biological systems, and their use in food production, medicine, and industry. This course was developed in response to requests from participants in the earlier Molecular Biology and Food Technology courses.

Sustainability in a Productive Environment. This course will demonstrate how practical experimental plots can be set up on school grounds as continuing sites for study of a range of studies in biodiversity, ecology, and environmental impact.

Alternative Sources for Energy, a course to explore how this major industry impacts on our daily environment economically and politically as well as socially and physically, and how student can exercise some responsibility for the future course of energy development.

Organiser Betty Shore of Lincoln University's Centre for Continuing Education emphasizes the practical nature of the courses – plenty of lab and field work – an approach which has found favour with past participants.

“Offering these course is an expression of the commitment which Lincoln’s lecturers have to supporting Science in schools generally. The work they put in reflects the regard they have for colleagues working in secondary schools," she commented.

Further information will be mailed to schools later this year and at the beginning of 1997.