Stanford GSE partners with Biology Department to bring Bay Area science teachers into the lab
When Jose Lopez moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles earlier this year, he was looking for a way to grow as a teacher and reconnect with his lost love for science.
“I think it’s really easy as a teacher, despite what we do, to feel very disconnected from science research,” said Lopez, who teaches physics at San Mateo High School and participated in Stanford Graduate School of Education’s (GSE) Hollyhock Fellowship for high school teachers in 2022.
“I’ve done a lot of teaching-related professional development, and through Hollyhock I really started to think about the science part of my science teaching job, which I honestly really hadn’t been in touch with.”
It’s why he applied to the BioRETs INSPIRE program at Stanford, a collaboration between the GSE’s Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET) and the Department of Biology at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. The program, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), connects Bay Area middle and high school teachers with Stanford scientists for research experiences and teaching support.
Through INSPIRE, teachers spend a summer working in science labs with Stanford biologists, develop their teaching skills with CSET, and build community with other educators.
“Programs like INSPIRE are important because they give teachers the opportunity to enhance their research skills, content knowledge, and pedagogical approaches by spending extended time immersed in laboratory experiences,” said GSE Associate Professor Janet Carlson, who co-directs the program.
“As scientists and researchers, it’s our responsibility to engage the broader public with what we’re doing because we’re using taxpayer dollars to do science,” said Lauren O’Connell, an assistant professor of biology at Stanford and co-director of INSPIRE. “We wanted to focus on teachers because the impact of our time spent is much more given the number of students they’re teaching.”
2024-2025 INSPIRE cohort members Jaime Vasquez, MA '22 (left), Jesus Rojas (center), and Jose Lopez (right) work together in the lab in June. (Photo: Jennifer Ray)
Bringing research to practitioners
O’Connell got the idea to start INSPIRE at Stanford after seeing that the NSF offered grants to institutions of higher learning and other nonprofits to provide research experience for teachers (RETs) within a department.
“I thought this was perfect because it was a chance to have eight teachers in labs across the whole department, while building a great community and engaging with CSET to do professional learning,” she said.
As part of INSPIRE, teachers spend six weeks working with Stanford biology researchers on campus and meet weekly to work on educational transfer plans (ETPs), which outline how they will translate their lab experiences into classroom use.
CSET staff and faculty also introduce them to key research findings related to how students learn, ideas to encourage academic discussion in the classroom, ways to support student understanding, and strategies to integrate state and national science education standards into their lessons.
“The goal of the program is really to bridge classroom teachers with biology research experience in ways that transform their teaching for students,” said Rachel Zulick, a professional development facilitator with CSET and program coordinator for INSPIRE.
Lia Kim, MA '23, a recent graduate of the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP), says that INSPIRE reconnected her to her love for science, something she plans to pass on to her students. (Photo: Jennifer Ray)
Bringing teachers to the lab
For Lia Kim, MA ’23, a ninth-grade biology teacher at James Logan High School in Union City, joining INSPIRE this summer was a way for her to tap back into research.
“The ability to work with a Stanford professor to conduct research in the biological realm is what really attracted me to the program,” said Kim. “My interest in science came before my desire to become a teacher, which is why INSPIRE is a dream come true.”
Kim says that INSPIRE — and the assistance it affords her and her cohort, which includes stipends paid throughout the program — has reaffirmed her commitment to teaching.
“Being plugged into resources and having a support system that encourages and helps to fund our classrooms, makes this the greatest job in the world for me,” she said.
The 2024-2025 cohort of the INSPIRE program includes Aayesha Nangia, MA '22, (bottom left), an eighth-grade science teacher at Dolores Huerta Middle School; Lia Kim, MA '23 (bottom center), a ninth-grade biology teacher at James Logan High School; Jaime Vazquez, MA '22 (bottom right), a biology teacher at East Palo Alto Academy; Jesus Rojas, MA '20 (top right), a science teacher at Hillview Middle School; Jose Lopez (top center), a physics teacher at San Mateo High School; and Tess Carlson, MA '20, (top left), a science teacher at Mission Bay Hub.
Bringing the lab to the classroom
Once the summer portion of the class is complete, teachers continue to get professional support the following school year in the form of a stipend to cover some classroom supplies and a visit to their classrooms from Stanford biology researchers, who talk about their work with the students.
“The researchers who came in did a really good job of collaborating with me to make it interactive for the students and we picked topics that the students were interested in,” said Shannon Mueller, a biology teacher at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, Calif., who was part of INSPIRE’s first cohort last year. “A couple of the students afterward were asking about what it’s like to be a researcher and began considering that as part of their career path.”
Enasia McElvaine, a middle school biology and earth science teacher at Westlake Middle School in Oakland, Calif., said that the visits from researchers sparked students’ curiosity and helped them realize that what they were learning in class was relevant to real-world science applications.
“Researchers came in and spoke to the class about cancer, which was relevant as it had affected some people they knew,” said McElvaine, who was also in INSPIRE’s first cohort. “They were very receptive to the researchers coming in, and it was a great experience for them.”
Jose Lopez (right) presents his project, which involved research on proteins in the bacteria in ticks infested with Lyme disease, at the poster presentation on Aug. 29. (Photo: Joleen Richards)
Bringing science to the broader community
The INSPIRE program’s summer activities culminate with a poster presentation at the end of August, where the cohort presents research findings along with Stanford biology students.
At the science fair–style event, students, family, friends, and community members can ask questions about the individual projects.
Mueller, whose project studied how herbivores and drought affect oak trees, says she still shares her project poster with students.
“I think programs like this are beneficial because they allow teachers to better understand applications for what they’re teaching, and it translates into something we can pass on to students,” she said.
Zulick, INSPIRE’s program coordinator, said she particularly enjoys seeing teachers build their confidence in conducting scientific research and then relate it to their teaching.
“There’s something really beautiful about seeing teachers be inspired and connected to science, to feel like scientists again,” she said. "And it immediately transitions to them wanting their students to feel this way too.”
Lia Kim (center) presents her project, which involved research on fungal associations in the root structure of a specific portion of the Bishop Pine Forest, at the poster presentation on Aug. 29. (Photo: Joleen Richards)
Faculty mentioned in this article: Janet Carlson
