D. French (NITARP alumna), T. Slater, and A. Burrows explored the long-term impacts of NITARP on participating educators in this AAS poster from the Summer 2013 meeting in Indianapolis, IN. Their main conclusions included:
- All teachers changed their classrooms in some way because of NITARP. Examples of this change include incorporating real data into labs and inquiryâbased activities, integrated computer programs into curriculum, instructing students on how to access archival data, and involving students in research projects.
- Because of NITARP, teachers changed how they taught the scientific process. They no longer taught it as the scientific method with a series of linear steps. It is a method with its own “language,” it is often not linear, it may be an iterative process, and unexpected data may arise.
- Teachers realized scientists do not work alone; they collaborate, often remotely. The teachers modeled science as a collaborative effort with their students.
- To speak the language of science and to keep current with research, teachers must be immersed in the culture of science.
