Stealth learning - keep students glued to Science

A DUKE university pharmacology professor has devised a novel method of making science education more interesting for high school students.

Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom, who left lab bench to focus on science, education, claims that she and her colleagues have so far boosted the basic science knowledge of 7,210 high school students by 16 percent.

She revealed that they did so by conducting a national experiment, wherein they taught high school teachers across the US to incorporate drug-related topics into biology and chemistry.

I call it “Stealth learning “. The student is having fun picking up facts about things they are interested in. But at the same time they are actually learning basic principles about science.” She said in an interview.

Bloom says that the interaction between her team and high school teachers during the 11- year-old project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has given rise to classroom and laboratory activities for six different instruction modules.

Each unit focused on a pharmacological topic that integrated basic sciences principles in Biology and chemistry with issues from other relevant disciplines such as mathematics, “Public policy, psychology and social sciences.”

Unlike her own high school teacher, who taught her about oxidation by describing how iron and oxygen combine to create rust , Bloom choose another way to educated student about oxidation.

I am not going to talk about rust. I am going to tell you how methamphetamines kill neurons. It is through oxidation and it is the same reaction.” She told the students.

“on another occasion I talked about the different formulation of cocaine if it is smoked or it is snorted. Of course they were already Street-Savvy about the fact that you can get addicted more easily if you smack crack. So, I asked them, how that can be “It is the same chemical. We talked the whole hour about that”. She added.

I am using the very rigorous research skills I built during 25 years in the laboratory and applying them to science learning.” She further revealed that though her team’s efforts in scientific visualization were mainly aimed at making science education interesting for high school student.