ASIM: Program Specifics

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Alabama Science in Motion (ASIM) program is a statewide science outreach initiative to high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics classrooms. Physical Science classrooms may also be served as time allows. Central to the operation of the Alabama Science in Motion program is a network of traveling science vans that bring modern science laboratory equipment to high school classrooms across the state. Each van is operated by a state-certified science teacher. Currently 22 traveling science vans are in operation and the long range goal of the program is to have vans in all three disciplines at each of the 11 ASIM sites. The vans are Ford Econoline trucks that have been custom converted into mid-sized, 15 ft trucks. The cargo area at the rear of each truck is outfitted with sturdy shelving and there is a central aisle to accommodate the rolling carts that transport equipment to the high school classroom. The mileage that the trucks travel each year depends upon the geographic area served, the number of schools in the area, and the frequency with which each school is served. A typical van might travel about 14,000 mi. in a school year.

The ASIM program is funded by the State of Alabama as a line item in the budget of the State Department of Education and is administered through regional universities across the state. A Project Director oversees the operation of the program at each of these regional universities, and the science departments there carry the primary responsibility for the science content of the program. Typically, a faculty member from the participating science department is designated as the Biology, Chemistry, or Physics Coordinator for that ASIM site. A yearly contract is negotiated between each site and the Department of Education to cover the operational costs of the program. A State Director, housed within the State Department of Education, is responsible for the overall coordination of the ASIM program.

Alabama Science in Motion was established by the Alabama Legislature during the 1994 Regular Session as a practical way to address problems Alabama teachers face in teaching secondary science. Much of the structure of the ASIM program is modeled after the very successful Juniata College science van program. In fact the initial idea for the Alabama program came when a State Legislator viewed an ABC News clip on the Juniata van program and decided to introduce legislation for establishing a similar but statewide effort in Alabama. The Governor signed the legislation for ASIM on May 3, 1994. Because of the enthusiastic support expressed to the Legislature by the students, teachers, and secondary school administrators who were being served by the program, the decision was eventually made to elevate ASIM to line-item status in the state budget. The support for Science in Motion from the constituents that are served by the program is indeed strong.

To facilitate professional development activities for teachers, the State of Alabama is zoned into 11 teacher in-service regions. A university in each region is designated as a teacher in-service site, and it is through these universities that Alabama Science in Motion is administered. Two science vans currently operate in each region. In the first year of operation, funds were only available to place 12 vans on the road. The yearly operational cost per van is somewhat lower than the initial startup cost, and this has allowed an increase in the number of vans since 1994/95 even though Legislative funding has been relatively constant.

PROGRAM GOALS

The specific goals of the Alabama Science in Motion program are:

To complement, enhance, and facilitate implementation of the Alabama Course of Study: Science.
To provide students with experiences using state-of-the-art scientific equipment and instrumentation in their school laboratories, to prepare them upon graduation for entry into postsecondary education or the work force and to increase their interest in science and science careers.
To provide high school science teachers with curriculum development and staff development opportunities that will enhance their subject content expertise, technology background and instructional skills and to prepare them to present more challenging and stimulating instruction in science for grades 9-12.
To provide equity of opportunity for students across the state, regardless of the public school they attend, to use this technology and to benefit from more challenging and stimulating instruction.
To provide opportunities to develop mentoring links between university faculty and classroom teachers and to develop models for effective university school-system partnerships.

The ASIM program places a great deal of emphasis on improving the science programs in both inner city schools and rural schools where traditionally the science programs have not been as strong as in the more affluent areas. ASIM is available to any high school science teacher in our natural science disciplines who chooses to participate.

In meeting these goals, the ASIM program directly addresses several areas of critical need in Alabama's science classrooms. Regarding equipment and supplies, there is general agreement that hands-on activities in a science classroom greatly enhance the learning process for students. However, few science teachers in our state have the resources to run an effective laboratory program. Alabama Science in Motion essentially gives participating high school science teachers access to an equipment storeroom with more than $100 K of modern laboratory equipment in exchange for a commitment to a few days of science workshop activities each year. Regarding teacher knowledge, while the majority of high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics teachers in Alabama are certified in science education, many are teaching out of their specific field of training. The Science in Motion program includes in its yearly schedule a substantial professional development component for teachers which strengthens content knowledge and provides a direct mentoring link with natural science faculty. Another need for teachers is time. Most science teachers are assigned to teach multiple subjects during the day, and there is little time for them to prepare for laboratory experiments, even when equipment is available. ASIM meets this need with van operators who are certified teachers and who can, if necessary, teach the entire laboratory during their visits without any additional preparation time for the classroom teacher. And finally, addressing the need for changing classroom attitudes towards science, teachers and students alike are motivated by the modern laboratory equipment and interesting experiments provided by ASIM, not to mention the fact that the visit by the van is a nice break in the regular classroom routine.

PROGRAM LOGISTICS

Following the Juniata College model, each Alabama Science in Motion truck:

Is equipped with more than $100 K of modern science laboratory equipment.
Is driven by a certified high-school science teacher.
Serves typically 27 schools, visiting each by appointment one or more times a month.
Offers a menu of lab experiments that can be taught by either the van operator or the classroom teacher.
Provides more advanced teachers with a "lending library" of laboratory equipment.

The recruitment and retention of well-qualified master-teacher van operators for ASIM is aided by incentives such as an extra month of salary due to the summer workshops and no papers to grade, faculty meetings, or parent conferences. This is in addition to being involved with a stimulating instructional program. The initial equipment purchased for each truck is standard for each discipline but in subsequent years each site can order what they feel will best serve their schools. Regular meetings of van drivers are held to coordinate equipment and to share new experiments. Individual sites have the freedom to select from the overall pool of experiments the ones they want to offer. The common equipment on the trucks in each discipline tends to standardize experiments offered across the state. The participating teachers select from the experiment list and schedule an appointment for an ASIM visit (typically about once a month). Experienced teachers can schedule an equipment drop-off so that they may use the laboratory equipment over a more extended period of time.

Alabama Science in Motion provides participating teachers with the opportunity for 10 days of summer workshops structured in levels according to teacher experience with the program and with 5 days of workshops during the school year. Teachers are paid for all workshops attended. Summer workshop attendance is required for new teachers joining the program. Experienced teachers are asked to participate in at least 5 days of professional development to continue with the program. The workshops often include interesting enrichment activities such as faculty talks, trips to visit laboratories or industries, presentations on teaching methods, lecture demonstrations, testing new labs, etc.

Another important aspect of the ASIM program is that it encourages cooperation among the secondary science teachers, the science education faculty, and the natural sciences faculty to improve science education in each region. This cooperation may include a wide spectrum of activities from workshop presentations on effective teaching methods by the science education faculty to pre-service teacher work with van operators to learn about the practical aspects of laboratory instruction and equipment management. Approximately half of the current Project Directors for ASIM are In-Service Center Directors and the rest are natural science faculty members.

COSTS AND SERVICES

The funding for Alabama Science in Motion has been relatively uniform since the program began. The overall state expenditures have been: $2.71 M in 1994-95, $1.84 M in 1995-96, $2.83 M in 1996-97, and $2.57 M in 1997-98. These expenditures include salaries for the van operators. No overhead to universities is allowed but provision is made for clerical help and for office supplies, mailing, and telephone expenses. The current budget allows a yearly total of $250,000 in each region for the operation of 2 ASIM vans. The program currently serves nearly 40,000 bright young students who may someday be our science and technology leaders, and the individual student cost per year of bringing this visionary program into science classrooms is only $66.10. Additional students will be served when the third van at each site is funded. In general, the majority of the public classrooms in the state that are not being currently served by ASIM are those for which the teachers choose for whatever their reasons not to participate. In some cases teachers who were participating in the program at one time have now received similar science laboratory equipment from their school systems. The impact of ASIM on the professional development of secondary school science teachers is also significant. During the 1997-98 school year, 510 teachers participated in 442 days of Science in Motion workshops, resulting in a total of 4,462 logged workshop days.

EQUIPMENT AND EXPERIMENTS

The Juniata science van program upon which the Alabama program is based offers both Biology and Chemistry components, but does not include Physics. The materials developed by the Juniata program provided the foundation for the development of the Alabama program in Biology and Chemistry. However, the Physics portion of Alabama Science In Motion, including the choice of equipment and the development of a laboratory manual, had to be built from the ground up. It is noteworthy that in most cases the laboratory equipment is relatively sophisticated and the experiments performed include many advanced techniques not commonly found in the high school curriculum. In all of the Science in Motion labs, the data collection portion of the experiment is designed to be finished in one 50 minute class period, with the remaining analysis and laboratory report activities left for the teacher to organize. The laboratory manuals in general include "Teacher Notes" sections to help teachers lead the experiment and guide the students in the interpretation of the results. Many of the Physics experiments are based on the use of laptop computers equipped with "works" and plotting programs. PASCO computer interfaces are used to automate data taking and analysis. The Physics vans also carry a good selection of other laboratory equipment for experiments in sound, electricity, and light. A number of the Physics laboratory experiments written for ASIM are in discovery-based "exploratory" format with follow up questions included to lead students to form their own conclusions about the data.

PROGRAM IMPACT

The Juniata program has reported that student participation in their traveling science van program has resulted in a measurable increase in science test scores. While ASIM has not conducted a similar assessment, it is clear that this statewide science initiative is "changing attitudes about science" in a very positive way. Teacher and student comments about the program are highly favorable. Alabama Science in Motion is referred to by many teachers across the state as "the best thing the State of Alabama has ever done for science education and the students of Alabama".

Alabama Science in Motion - Physics

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