Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Summary
Summary
Pages 1-10
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
Funding was provided through the Department's Biosecurity Engagement Program, which is committed to developing cooperative international programs that promote the safe, secure and responsible use of biological materials that are at risk of accidental release or intentional misuse. The IAP also provided funding for travel by participants from developing countries.
|
From page 2... ...
The complete statement of task for the project may be found in Box S1; its basic goals were to: • survey strategies and resources available internationally for educa tion on dual use issues and identify gaps; • consider ideas for filling the gaps, including development of new educational materials and implementation of effective teaching methods; and • discuss approaches for including education on dual use issues in the training of life scientists. The twoandahalf day workshop combined plenary sessions and small BOX S-1 Statement of Task Considerable work has been done in the past few years by the [U.S.
|
From page 3... ...
The participants' backgrounds and experi ence reflected two basic themes for the workshop: • To engage the life sciences community, the particular security issues related to research with dual use potential would best be approached in the context of responsible conduct of research, the wider array of issues that the community addresses to fulfill its responsibilities to society. • Education about dual use issues would benefit from the insights of the "science of learning," the growing body of research about how individuals learn at various stages of their lives and careers and the most effective methods for teaching them, which provides the foundation for efforts in many parts of the world to improve the teaching of science and technology at all levels of instruction.
|
From page 4... ...
These examples come from all over the world and seem to result primarily from the work of an interested, committed individual or a specific project, often by a nongovernmental organization. • At present, most of the examples of education about dual use issues occur as part of more general education about respon sible conduct of research, in basic life sciences courses, as part of biosafety training, or within bioethics.
|
From page 5... ...
One of the recurring themes in the discussion was that "no one size fits all," given the diversity of fields, interests, and experiences across the life sciences. The key is making the issue relevant to students and this requires a tailored approach.
|
From page 6... ...
Online collaborative tools can be a key mechanism to facilitate global participation in the development of materials, although again issues of access to the Internet will need to be considered in designing any arrangements. • Developing methods and capacity for the life sciences and educa tional communities to comment on and vet education materials, such as an appropriately monitored Wikipedia model, would be important.
|
From page 7... ...
• It will be important to reach out to other disciplines that are increasingly part of life sciences research -- physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering -- as part of education about dual use issues. There may also be useful ideas and lessons from how these fields provide education about ethical issues and the potential for misuse of scientific results.
|
From page 8... ...
• To enable dual use issues to become a regular part of the curricu lum across the life sciences, significant sustained funding will be required to fill the gaps, such as the need for new materials in multiple languages, identified in the workshop and other reports. • Private sources such as foundations have played and can con tinue to play an important role in supporting the development and implementation of education about dual use issues.
|
From page 9... ...
-- Additional case studies to address broader segments of the life sciences community should be developed, with a focus on making the case studies relevant to the student/researcher. • Design methods for commenting and vetting of materials by the community (such as an appropriately monitored Wikipedia model)
|
From page 10... ...
These should include qualitative approaches as well as quantitative measures, for example, of learning outcomes.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.