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The Geneticist-Educator Network of Alliances (GENA) Project
The GENA project is a 3-year MSP RETA that is designed to explore the effects of MSP participation on STEM faculty and provide a model to the MSP community that can be adapted so that MSP participation can be seen as a valuable contribution to a faculty member's work at their institution. Our model stems from the hypothesis that if a disciplinary society (in this case the American Society of Human Genetics) supports this type of work, then that would provide an additional level of exposure and prominence for their members to become involved and to receive recognition from their colleagues in the society and at their home institution.

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Project Contributions

Unexpected Outcomes: Impacting Higher Education Teaching Practice via High School Outreach
"Funding agencies and the science education community at large have pursued strategies for increasing K-12 outreach by scientists and for improving instructional practices in higher education classrooms. However, the simultaneous…
ASHG/GENA Lesson Plan Database
"These lessons were developed by Geneticist-Educator Network of Alliances (GENA) teams and have been further adapted by The American Society of Human Genetics for use in high school (or advanced…
A Comprehensive Analysis of High School Genetics Standards: Are States Keeping Pace with Modern Genetics?
"Science education in the United States will increasingly be driven by testing and accountability requirements, such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, which rely heavily on…
A Comprehensive Analysis of High School Genetics Standards: Are States Keeping Pace with Modern Genetics?
"Science education in the United States will increasingly be driven by testing and accountability requirements, such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act…
A Professional-Society Mediated MSP: Lessons Learned
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "Claim 1: The development of scientifically robust and pedagogically sound lesson plans centered around misconceptions is an effective way for scientific-society partnership projects to…
Year 3 External Evaluator Report
Posted by: Michael Dougherty . This report summarizes work across three years of the GENA Project. It was prepared by The Study Group, the project's external evaluators. The GENA Project calls for the establishment of…
Essay Contest Reveals Misconceptions of High School Students in Genetics Content
"National educational organizations have called upon scientists to become involved in K-12 education reform. From sporadic interaction with students to more sustained partnerships with teachers, the engagement...