Project Summary/Abstract
This proposal builds on an existing infrastructure of the ASSET program (Advancing Secondary Science
Education through Tetrahymena), to generate new teaching materials, reach new student populations, and
ensure sustainability of the program by transitioning its overall functions from Cornell University in Ithaca, New
York to Washington University in St. Louis. Over the past 10 years, ASSET has built a highly successful SEPA
program that teaches core biology content to primary, middle, and high school students using a safe, easily
grown, and behaviorally complex single-celled organism (viz. Tetrahymena). Tetrahymena provides an ideal
platform for teaching basic principles of cell structure and function, genetics, evolution, sex, prey-predator
interaction, cell signaling, etc. without engendering in students any of the conflicting reactions often evoked using
live vertebrate animals. Additionally, Tetrahymena offers a graphic illustration of the deleterious effects of toxic
and/or addictive substances on living cells in real-time, equipping teachers with a powerful tool with which to
fight against substance abuse and promote healthy behavior. ASSET provides stand-alone laboratory kits that
are easily integrated into existing science/health curricula, along with innovative co-curricular modules that
address the intersection between science and society. The program helps science teachers educate students in
under-resourced schools in rural and inner-city school districts, provides robust on-site and distance teacher
development activities, while continuously being evaluated for pedagogical effectiveness. This new proposal will
greatly expand the program’s current offerings by introducing new materials to existing modules, as well as new
modules that address recently identified areas of high programmatic interest to SEPA, specifically, embedding
math in P-8 teaching projects; exposing students to research-generated data; and, training students in
informatics, bioinformatics, and data science. The Co-Directors have extensive experience teaching
bioinformatics and helping students interpret research-driven data, while curriculum specialists at Washington
University’s Institute for School Partnership are well-positioned to evaluate existing modules to identify
opportunities to teach mathematical concepts using examples from biology and student generated data at grade
appropriate levels. Finally, the move from Cornell to Washington University addresses an additional area of
programmatic interest for SEPA, namely, adapting successful SEPA programs to new areas or with new
populations. Through its Institute for School Partnership, Washington University is strongly committed to
achieving equity in K-12 education bringing high-quality STEM teaching to >100,000 students in the Midwest
through its various teaching programs. Incorporating the ASSET program under its umbrella expands its current
activities, introduces ASSET to whole new populations of students, and provides ASSET a safe haven for
continuing its long-term mission to enhance STEM education and, ultimately, the STEM workforce.