Outreach: empowering students and teachers to fish outside the box

The purpose of the Project BioEYES Outreach Program is to foster an enthusiasm for science education, promote interest for future participation in a biology-related field, and allow all students the opportunity to learn life science through a hands-on, student-centered approach to instruction. In the 7 years since the program's inception, we have studied our growth and impact in and out of the classroom. Our model of promoting science education through a University-K12 partnership is exemplified by Project BioEYES success in multiple cities. This effort has allowed students to perform real experiments as lead scientists in their own classrooms. The University-K12 partnership model has also provided teachers with the training and skills needed to facilitate their teaching of the experimental process by integrating complex scientific concepts into the classroom setting. Our demonstrated success with Project BioEYES in a number of large public school districts supports our effort to disseminate Project BioEYES both nationally and internationally.