The Teacher Enhancement Program brings teachers to campus to learn the latest in scientific breakthroughs. Michael Anstett, who has been a high school biology teacher in Omro, Wis., for 23 years, says he has never been more enthused about his job than in the last few years. He gives the UW-Madison Teacher Enhancement Program in Biology much of the credit. Not only were the classes excellent, but I got to visit with other teachers to compare problems and concerns. Anstett is one of more than 300 elementary and high school teachers from around the nation who visited the Madison campus this summer to study strategies for teaching science.
Teachers earn one or two university credits per module.
The summer biology program is part of a larger teacher enhancement program which involves presenting workshops and programs throughout the academic year and developing curriculum for teachers. Ann Bauman, an elementary school teacher from Janesville, says she had only one introduction to science in college. In the three years she has attended the program, she has studied genetics, the social implications of genetics, science for head start, preschool and primary grades, and cultural diversity in families of children with special needs. In addition to her new knowledge of science, Bauman says she has learned to integrate science into the whole curriculum and make it more of a hands-on experience For high school teachers, Kessel says the biology program is designed to update them on the latest information in particular fields and give them some new ideas to make the classroom more exciting. Instructors for the biology classes come primarily from the science departments on the Madison campus.