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* Oregon Health and Science University, and
Portland Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, USA
1Correspondence: Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd. L467Ad, Portland, OR 97239. E-mail: rosenbaj{at}ohsu.edu
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ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: education • secondary school • science • scientific inquiry
THE UNITED STATES HAS ENJOYED A DOMINANT role in science and medicine as judged by many parameters, including a percentage of publications in highly cited journals, number of Nobel laureates, and attractiveness to international students for graduate and postgraduate education. At the same time, this preeminence is rapidly eroding due to multiple factors, including mediocre achievement in science education. For example, 
16% of 24-yr-olds in the United States elect to major in science or engineering (1)
. This ranking places the United States 16th among 17 nations in this statistic (1)
. U.S. 12th graders perform below the international average when tested on general knowledge of math and science (1)
. Currently, medical progress in the United States depends tremendously on individuals who are born outside the United States (2)
. The productivity of U.S. science is also greatly influenced by the attitude of the lay public toward science, since this is a critical factor in issues such as the budget for the National Institutes of Health or the funding for stem cell research.
We describe a program, which we have designed for high school students (grades 9, 10, and 11 primarily) in Portland, OR. This program differs from conventional science curriculum because it teaches the scientific method emphasizing questioning, creativity, and hypothesis testing. We present data, indicating that nationwide adoption of this curriculum or other similar programs that involve a "hands-on" research experience would substantially increase the likelihood that U.S. students would elect to pursue a career in science or health.
In 1999, we initiated an annual program at the Oregon Health & Science University to encourage high school students in the greater Portland area to perform scientific research, to forge a relationship with a physician or scientist, and to think critically and creatively. We organized a class that meets for 2 h per week for 18 wk. Students were recruited with the cooperation of several local school systems, and the class was publicized by high school science teachers and by personal visits to the high schools by one of us (E.A.N.). Students who are home schooled or who attend private schools have also participated. We welcomed all interested students regardless of prior academic achievement. Although women are underrepresented in science (3)
, our class has been attended by an equal number of males and females. The basic criterion for enrollment is a willingness to attend the class and to complete the required assignments.
The curriculum has five major components. First, roughly half of the class time is devoted to lectures on a single disease. We have chosen to use Parkinson’s disease as our focus, but this reflects our own expertise rather than any specific advantage to this selection. The lectures begin with the physical examination of a patient volunteer and proceed to cover a range of topics designed to introduce students to broad perspectives that one could employ to elucidate a clinical problem. These approaches to research include neuroanatomy, histopathology, animal models, epidemiology, genetics, imaging, and clinical trials. One lecture introduces Web-based literature searches using the database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Guest lecturers discuss ethical issues in human and animal research. Homework assignments and background information are posted on the website: http://www.ohsucaseyeye.com/education/psi.as. This core curriculum is the basis of a recently published book entitled, Understanding Parkinson’s Disease: A Personal and Professional View (Richard B. Rosenbaum, Praeger Greenwood, 2006).
Second, mentors, who are physicians and scientists volunteering from the medical school faculty, offer succinct summaries of an aspect of their ongoing research. These presentations average 15 min and are designed to be interactive with students posing questions to the scientists. Each faculty member agrees to serve as a mentor for one to three students for the remaining three aspects of the course.
Faculty presentations are completed during the first 8 wk of the class. Students then select a mentor using a selection process that prioritizes the student preference similar to that employed in the National Intern and Resident Matching Program. For the third class component, the mentor assigns a current, peer-reviewed research paper, which the student presents in a journal club format. The lectures on Parkinson’s disease also use this format, so that students are already familiar with the concept of a critical review of literature. The journal club introduces students to two essential ingredients of science: questioning and critiquing. It also begins to prepare them for the final components of the class.
Fourth, at the concluding class meetings, each student orally presents a research proposal, which is also submitted as a 6-page paper. The students prepare the proposal with the help of the mentor and base the report on a topic that the student will ultimately research over the following summer and beyond. The research proposal includes a stated hypothesis, specific aims, background, methods, discussion of expected outcomes, pitfalls and alternatives, and references. Students receive high school credit and a grade based on attendance, completion of homework assignments, oral presentations, and the research proposal. In some years, students have discussed their research as a poster at an evening retreat and award ceremony attended by the faculty. Recent titles of research proposals include "The Effect of Chemokines on Dendritic Cell Migration in the Anterior Uveal Tract"; "Determining Gene Function in the Developing Mammalian Inner Ear with the RCAS-TVA Mouse System"; "Possible Radioprotective Effects of N-Acetylcysteine"; and "Evaluation of the Use of Speckle Tracking to Measure Myocardial Contractility".
The fifth component of the class is the performance of the proposed research. This generally occupies the summer that follows the lectures.
In 2006, 54 students completed the program (Fig. 1
A, B). In some years, we have used closed-circuit television to expand the reach of the class to rural areas in Oregon. We have begun to encourage high school science teachers to attend the class.
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The class differs radically from conventional high school and even the majority of college science classes in that the students are taught to find new solutions based on their own observations, a critical reading of peer-reviewed literature, and a mentored laboratory experience. Science becomes the questioning of "facts" rather than the acquisition of facts.
Ideally, an educational endeavor should include a method to assess its effectiveness. Many of our goals are long term: training future scientists; introducing a broad segment of society (many of whom will not become scientists, to scientific thinking); and enhancing the relationship of the medical school to its community. Evidence that the class succeeds has come from a consistent growth in the enrollment (Fig. 1)
, from feedback from both the students and mentors, from the writing of peer-reviewed papers and abstracts, from competition in science fairs, and from the participation by our students in national meetings.
To quantify the impact of this class, we mailed a survey to students from the initial years of the class using a questionnaire to "determine which classes or experiences had the greatest impact for you in high school". The survey instrument identified the source as the Portland Public School System Talented and Gifted program to avoid biasing responses by identifying Oregon Health & Science University as the initiator of the mailing. We elected to survey our initial graduates to learn how we were impacting life choices such as career. We selected two control groups: one group had taken comparable, conventional biology and chemistry classes and attended the same high schools as our students. A second group had participated in a program called Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE), which arranges an 8-wk laboratory experience over a summer. Among the respondents with no identifiable time in a laboratory outside of their high school, responses indicated that 2 of 13 were majoring in science or engineering (15%) and 1 of 9 (11%) was planning a career in science or health. In contrast, among our graduates, 10 of 15 (67%) were majoring in science or engineering and 8 of 11 (73%) were planning careers in science or health (see Fig. 2
) (P<0.01 for either major or career by 
2 analysis). For the ASE students, 62%, or 13 of 21 were majoring in a science and 40%, or 4 of 10, planned a career in science. As noted above, nationally 16% of students major in science or engineering.
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These data cannot exclude a selection bias, such that students who volunteer for a laboratory experience are already predisposed toward scientific careers. However, we also asked students to rank 11 classes or activities (Algebra, Art, Advanced Placement courses, American History, Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, English (senior year), Foreign language, Mock trial, and our Scientific inquiry class) on the basis of relative importance. Using these options, 56% of our former students ranked our class as first or second in affecting "college, career, or life choices" (Fig. 3
). Among students who had taken ASE, 57% indicated a similar impact for that summer curriculum. In contrast, combining our class and the ASE responses, 6% of respondents thought that algebra was one of the two most influential experiences, 8% ranked biology as first or second in influence, and 11% gave this ranking to chemistry (P<0.001 by 2 for each comparison). In contrast to a traditional classroom interaction, an actual laboratory experience can markedly influence career choices and attitudes toward science.
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We are unaware of other data showing an ability to influence attitudes toward scientific careers and college majors. Because our evaluation was retrospective and the sample size was small, our observations need to be validated by additional studies. Although a prospective, randomized, controlled trial is ideal, it would be unethical to deny a laboratory opportunity to any student who is motivated to undertake this. Surveying student attitudes about science prospectively such that the student serves as his/her own control is clearly achievable.
The scientific inquiry class succeeds because dozens of faculty members offer their time, their expertise, and the resources of their laboratories without financial compensation. We have also received generous help with our Web site and our remote broadcasts. Other institutions offer programs similar to ours. A listing of some of these summer programs is available at http://tbp.mit.edu/highschool/. These programs differ in their focus. Many require students to pay for the experience. We believe that the preparation that we offer prior to the summer distinguishes our class from most others.
In 1970, 58% of the world’s doctorates in science were obtained in the United States. In 2010, the U.S. share of science doctorates is projected to be 15% (4)
. Our data indicate that many more students would elect to pursue careers in science if they had research opportunities prior to college.
Our model has been based on volunteerism, and we have provided the experience at no cost to the student. In fact, some of our mentors provide a stipend to their students. We recognize that this paradigm is not likely to succeed universally. Education is costly; our own program has costs in both professional time and materials, which we and our remarkable coterie of mentors have chosen to donate. Private philanthropy can help encourage efforts similar to ours, but the most obvious solution to stimulate an interest in science is a federally sponsored initiative to fund multiple programs to allow all high school students the opportunity to experience the challenges and gratifications of science personally.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received for publication November 28, 2006. Accepted for publication January 25, 2007.
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