Intel Sponsors "Winning With Inquiry" Workshop For High School Science Teachers

Research Shows the Best Way to Learn Science is Through Questioning, Experimentation and Using the Scientific Method

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 10, 1999 - Intel Corporation and the Materials Research Institute at Northwestern University today announced a unique three-day workshop entitled "Winning with Inquiry" for high school science educators. The workshop is designed to help teachers adopt and successfully manage student science research projects through experimentation, questioning and using the scientific method. Research has shown that activities which include questioning, experimentation and using the scientific method to supplement high school science and math curricula modules increase student interest in science by demonstrating how science principles help to solve real world problems.

Initially the workshops will be provided to 280 high school educators in seven communities where Intel has a major facility (Santa Clara, Calif.; Folsom, Calif.; Ft. Worth, Texas; Chandler, Ariz.; Hillsboro, Ore.; Rio Rancho, N.M.; and Dupont, Wash.). The educator training is one component of Intel's overall support for science math and technology education and a key strategy to increase participation in science competitions such as the Intel Science Talent Search and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

"Student research enhances text learning by simulating what real scientists in the field do," said Barbara Pelligrini, Ph.D., education consultant and head of the curriculum development team. "Our goal for these workshops is to help teachers integrate this type of teaching and learning in their science classrooms."

The first phase of the project will be to provide a three-day workshop to educators during the summer of 1999. The second phase will include the publishing of online materials for workshop replication that will be disseminated nationwide. The Materials Research Institute at Northwestern University will oversee the creation of the curriculum. Over the past decade, this group has produced a number of successful inquiry-based educational materials, most notably Materials World Modules (MWM) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The workshop materials will be designed a team of science educators, scientists and those experienced with science competitions.

Registration for the workshops will take place in March 1999. Incentives will be available including a stipend and available college credit. For more information on "Winning with Inquiry" contact Barbara Mueller at (847) 491-3607.

Northwestern University was established in 1851 and today is one of the country's leading private research universities. The Materials Research Institute at Northwestern is one of a nation-wide network of Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) sponsored by the National Science Foundation. For more information on the Materials Research Institute at Northwestern University and the Materials World Modules see mrcemis.ms.nwu.edu.

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