Mobile Laboratory Coalition (MLC) Annual Meeting

Seattle Children'S Hospital, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mobile laboratories provide a unique opportunity for improving access of students to cutting-edge, hands-on science and technology education and for exposing teachers to curriculum based on current research and new methodologies. The Mobile Laboratory Coalition (MLC) was formed in 2015 with the mission of improving access to science and technology education, and preparing the biomedical and STEM workforce. The Coalition is committed to promoting mobile laboratory programs as an innovative educational platform, and to assisting new and emerging programs in becoming successful. Since its establishment in 2005, the MLC has grown to include 27 active member programs representing 17 different states. Each year, the MLC hosts an annual conference for mobile lab programs, partners and other key stakeholders in the biomedical and STEM education fields. The annual conference plays a particularly important role in the success of new and emerging programs and is critical for fostering their development by providing mentoring opportunities so they can learn from the shared experiences of existing programs. The annual conference also provides an opportunity for more established programs to obtain external feedback, and to learn about recent advances in the field. There is no other conference for mobile laboratory programs and their partners. The proposed project seeks to enhance and expand the annual conference for the MLC over the next three years by providing educational content relevant to mobile laboratory programs and creating a forum for sharing of curriculum, best practices, advice, opportunities for networking and forming new collaborations. We seek to 1) offer scholarships to facilitate attendance of mobile laboratory program staff; 2) support new, emerging, and established programs by creating mentoring groups, evaluation resources, staff training, and mobile lab viewing opportunities; 3) encourage and support the participation of local teachers by creating an educator track at the conference that focuses on curriculum demonstrations and incorporating research into science lessons. The expected outcomes for this project are: an increase in program staff effectiveness of all levels through professional development, the development of collaborations, improved quality of programs, and the development of shared resources such as evaluation tools and curriculum. The end result is that students, teachers and community members participating in mobile science laboratory programs receive higher quality and higher impact science education, and have greater awareness of the career possibilities in the biomedical and STEM fields.