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College Neuroscience Class Welcomes William Tennet Students to the Labratory

WARMINSTER, PA---William Tennent High School Anatomy students participated in a unique partnership with St. Joseph’s University (SJU). Through the brilliance of technology, a college-level Behavioral Neuroscience course, complete with lectures and labs, was offered to William Tennent students.  Learning became “hands on” when several High School students took part in a lab, which was live streamed to William Tennent students in the classroom.
 
William Tennent Science Teacher Ignacio Jayo, supported by colleagues Phil Vinogradov and Al Catarro, collaborated with Elizabeth A. Becker, Ph.D., St. Joseph’s University, Department of Psychology, to foster greater understanding of college-level science among high school students interested in Science.

Dr. Becker’s Behavioral Neuroscience course was selected because it complemented and reinforced the nervous system material covered in the Anatomy course.

Behavioral Neuroscience consists of a lecture portion and a weekly lab.  SJU students work in pairs in the lab to develop a research experiment, which is conducted on a lab rat. Students induce tension into a specific section of a rat brain and assess the effect of the lesion on rat behavior. 

High school students monitor the progress in the lab through an Edmodo account, a private digital space. SJU students maintained lab blogs and prepared videos that were viewed by William Tennent participants. The interactive format encouraged high school students to ask questions and invest themselves in the subject matter.

The highlight of the course was viewing the behavioral testing process. Several students attended this lab and a live feed via Google Hangouts was established to allow William Tennent students enrolled in the course to be virtually present as Dr. Becker's students performed brain surgery on the rats.

High School Principal Dennis Best said, "We are thrilled to offer our students with educational experiences that have "real world" applications in their desired career field.  Additionally, we thank St. Joseph's University greatly for providing our students with a STEM pathway.”

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