Supplement to the June 2003 Report to the Governor and General Assembly on Underrepresented Groups in Illinois Higher Education - Public

              Chicago State University
The Chemistry Camp and Chemistry Van are funded by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program and are included in the online Guide to Science and Math Reform (www.learner.org). The programs provide in-service training to science teachers from the predominantly minority Chicago Public Schools. While the Chemistry Camp serves middle school teachers (since 1990) and the Chemistry Van serves high school teachers (since 1994), both have the same objectives and are designed in similar ways..
Objectives. The objectives of the two programs are as follows:
• To increase the positive attitudes of teaching science in general and chemistry in particular;
• To increase the content knowledge of participating teachers;
• To increase the positive science attitudes of students who learn from participating teachers; and
• To increase the science achievement of students who learn from participating teachers.
Strategies.
Chemistry Camp
Each summer, project staff and master teachers (past participants chosen for their success in implementing project activities) select school teams of three to five teachers to attend a four-week workshop at Chicago State University (CSU). During the workshop, the teachers learn chemistry content and engage in associated hands-on inquiry-based activities that reflect the national science education standards. They spend one day on each of five modules: elements, acids and bases, corrosion and analysis, metals, and polymers and crystals. In the second half of the workshop, participants review content in the morning and model the activities with students in the afternoon.
During the following school year, the teachers incorporate the activities into their instruction. The project directors meet with participants in the fall and spring to discuss implementation issues and visit classrooms to select new master teachers.
Chemistry Van
At an annual two-week summer workshop at CSU, project directors and master teachers (past participants chosen for their success in implementing project activities) review chemistry content and model approximately 60 laboratory experiments for participants. Each hands-on experiment can be completed in a single class period and reflects Goals for Learning (the state education standards). Each day focuses on a different topic, e.g., electrochemistry, microscale chemistry, or chromatographic separations. In the morning, teachers engage in the associated activities; in the afternoon, they learn to use such laboratory equipment as chromatographs and infrared or UV spectrophotometers and discuss their applications to the day's topic.