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A common challenge in the evaluation of K–12 science education is identifying valid scales that are an appropriate fit for both a student’s age and the educational outcomes of interest. Though many new scales have been validated in recent years, there is much to learn about the appropriate educational contexts and audiences for these measures. This study investigated two such scales, the DEVISE Self-Efficacy for Science scale and the Career Interest Questionnaire (CIQ), within the context of two related health sciences projects. Consistent patterns were found in the reliability of each scale across three age groups (middle school, high school, early college) and within the context of each project. As expected, self-efficacy and career interest, as measured through these scales, were found to be correlated. The pattern of results for CIQ scores was also similar to that reported in other literature. This study provides examples of how practitioners can validate established measures for new and specific contexts and provides some evidence to support the use of the scales studied in health science education contexts.

Commitment to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) pipeline is slowly declining despite the need for professionals in the medical field. Addressing this, the John A. Burns School of Medicine developed a summer teacher-training program with a supplemental technology-learning component to improve science teachers’ knowledge and skills of Molecular Biology. Subsequently, students’ skills, techniques, and application of molecular biology are impacted. Science teachers require training that will prepare them for educating future professionals and foster interest in the medical field. After participation in the program and full access to the virtual material, twelve high school science teachers completed a final written reflective statement to evaluate their experiences. Using thematic analysis, knowledge and classroom application were investigated in this study. Results were two-fold: teachers identified difference areas of gained knowledge from the teacher-training program and teachers’ reporting various benefits in relation to curricula development after participating in the program. It is concluded that participation in the program and access to the virtual material will impact the science community by updating teacher knowledge and positively influencing students’ experience with science.

The University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine developed a professional development program and virtual learning materials to assist high school science teachers become familiar with laboratory techniques prior to engaging in authentic molecular biology research. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluative overview of the program with emphasis on the virtual materials that were designed to employ a blended learning approach to augment offline classroom learning. The virtual learning materials provide a unique sphere for scientific learning in which skills can be reproduced in an offline environment. Twelve high school science teachers participated in the training program and were given full access to the online materials. After participation in the program, teachers filled out a final survey and completed a final written reflective statement as a form of evaluating the program and online materials. Thematic analysis was used to code participants' responses. Results showed that teachers recounted meeting the scientists as a valuable experience, teachers were grateful to learn real-world application of current research, and teachers described the importance of learning skills to prepare students to succeed in higher education. Additionally, results showed teacher's intent to use the virtual learning materials as homework tools and in classroom lessons.

Recent advances in internet technology have transformed how we gather and share information in today's world and have provided us with a platform to access educational resources and related information on the Internet. Every day, new technologies are developed that are changing the when and where we access that information. The capabilities of new technologies have allowed society to access information and learn virtually anywhere. As technical ingenuity continues to generate new technologies and paths of communication, we must look for opportunities to collaborate, share and extend our educational resources in higher education. Distributing Open Educational Resources (OER) in the form of freely licensed materials is necessary in order to laterally influence current advances in learning technologies. Online resources are being used in a variety of contexts to supplement instruction and training at higher education institutions. The aim of this Open Educational Resource project was to design and develop a blended learning instructional program to assist online users in developing familiarity with laboratory techniques prior to conducting molecular biology research in an authentic laboratory setting. This paper will look at the background of OER, describe the online materials that the Center for Cardiovascular Research (CCR) developed for open use, and discuss the outcomes and implications for use.

Professional development for science teachers can be benefited through active learning in science laboratories. However, how online training materials can be used to complement traditional laboratory training is less understood. This paper explores the design of online training modules to teach molecular biology and user perception of those modules that were part of an intensive molecular biology “boot camp” targeting high school biology teachers in the State of Hawaii. The John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii had an opportunity to design and develop professional development that prepares science teachers with an introduction of skills, techniques, and applications for their students to conduct medical research in a laboratory setting. A group of 29 experienced teachers shared their opinions of the online materials and reported on how they used the online materials in their learning process or teaching.

Molecular biology often uses participation in active research laboratories as a form of educational training. However, this approach to learning severely restricts access. As a way of addressing this need, the University of Hawaii launched a project to expand this model to include newly developed online training materials in addition to a hands-on laboratory experience. This paper further explores the process of material development and assessment plans. A pilot case study of a group of advanced biology teachers who embark on learning molecular biology over a four-month period through online training materials and working side-by-side with medical researchers in a laboratory is described. Teachers were positive in reporting about the many areas they gained instruction in although some feedback suggested that the initial online materials over-emphasised abstract concepts and laboratory techniques and did not adequately connect to the active research problems or local context of most interest to teachers and students. The experiences of the teachers are shared in an effort to gain insight on how teachers perceive their participation in the study.

In UTMD, bioactive molecules, such as negatively charged plasmid DNA vectors encoding a gene of interest, are added to the cationic shells of lipid microbubble contrast agents7-9. In mice these vector-carrying microbubbles can be administered intravenously or directly to the left ventricle of the heart. In larger animals they can also be infused through an intracoronary catheter. The subsequent delivery from the circulation to a target organ occurs by acoustic cavitation at a resonant frequency of the microbubbles. It seems likely that the mechanical energy generated by the microbubble destruction results in transient pore formation in or between the endothelial cells of the microvasculature of the targeted region10. As a result of this sonoporation effect, the transfection efficiency into and across the endothelial cells is enhanced, and transgene-encoding vectors are deposited into the surrounding tissue. Plasmid DNA remaining in the circulation is rapidly degraded by nucleases in the blood, which further reduces the likelihood of delivery to non-sonicated tissues and leads to highly specific target-organ transfection.

This paper presents the basics of the constant comparative analysis and discourse analysis methods to research in virtual worlds. Our data sources include video recordings of in-world class interactions; artifacts and documents such as students’ blog, and asynchronous discussion postings. For data analysis, we use the constant comparative method as a tool for inductive analysis, and discourse analysis as a tool to discover patterns in discursive practices. The constant comparative method was originally developed for the use in grounded theory methodology, but is now more widely applied as a method of analysis in qualitative research. It requires the researcher to take one piece of data and compare it to all other pieces of data that are either similar or different, gradually identifying the salient differences. In contrast, discourse analysis examines the way in which sentences are combined in larger linguistic units, such as conversational exchanges or written texts. The critical analysis of discourse helps us extend and specify themes generated during constant comparative analysis.

Representatives from seven community college campuses throughout Hawaii were designated to coordinate the creation of Technology Intensive (TI) courses using a model developed at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Data collection focused on qualitative measures: written narratives, pre and post surveys, and samples of technology products and curriculum changes. This approach allowed for the detection of subtle changes in faculty growth with regard to technology. Findings suggest that a strong mentoring program promoted substantial progress among study participants to model technology for students. Many faculty members quickly incorporated technologies into courses and promoted student use of technology in a short period of time. Participants transferred the technologies they learned with their mentor into classroom instruction and modeled the use of these technologies for their students. Technology mentoring transformed faculty into able technology users, diversifying their use of technology to accomplish specific teaching objectives.