Help teachers work together to apply current research on science education to improve classroom practice. Engage teachers in an inductive, constructivist approach to teaching science, in which they first explore materials and articulate their prior knowledge about a science topic, and then apply and integrate conceptual and factual information from resource materials. Build a community of staff and administrators within the schools to sustain an active network for improvement, and to support teachers in mentoring, team work, and reflective teaching. Partnerships with Volunteers and Graduate Students. Throughout the year, Merck employee volunteers, along with engineering students from Penn, work as partners with teachers in their classrooms.
Volunteers receive training, support, and feedback for their participation.
In addition, Merck employees' children do not, for the most part, attend the schools in this region.