Bruce Alberts discusses his work in science education over the past 20 years and his inspiration from M.S. Swaminathan. He created the National Academies' recipe for effective education research called SERP, which proposed "Field Sites" where researchers, teachers and designers work together to improve how students learn. More recently, he has focused on embedding community activity into schools, citing examples from Colombia and free science curricula created by the IAP to empower youth to use science for social good in their communities. His vision is for an education system that provides school credit for community work, utilizes volunteer talents, and produces adults who can build a more sustainable world.

1. Road Map for MSSRF 2030:
Some Thoughts
International Conference
MSSRF, Chennai
August 9, 2019
Bruce Alberts,
Professor of Science and Education
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

2. I have learned a great deal from MS about science

3. I want to thank you for the education and the inspiration that you have
provided to me and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences over the course
of the past 8 years. Through your wisdom and example, you have made
us aware of the enormous good that can be provided to the world’s
poor through both science and the work of scientists. You have
thereby helped us to realize that the potential span of science is much
greater than we had imagined, giving scientists the opportunity to be an
even greater force for progress in the world.
From my letter to M.S Swaminathan on the
occasion of his 80th birthday, August 2005
(written when I was president of the US National Academy of Sciences)

4. I later used what I had
learned at the
Academy as the
Editor-in-Chief of
Science magazine
(2008-2013)
Editorial by Swaminathan

5. My final issue of
Science
May 31, 2013
Based on an April
2013 trip to India with
Science news staff

6. For the past 20 years, my main focus in applying
science to society has been in education
• How can we use scientific approaches to greatly
improve the way we teach children?
• This work started when I was at the US Academy

7. The Academies
first attempt to
harvest what we
know from
research in
education
Published 2000

8. The National
Academies’ recipe for
effective education
research:
SERP
Published 2003

9. The major question posed to the
SERP committee:
Why has research supported
innovation and continuous improvement in
medicine, agriculture, and transportation,
but not in education --and what can we do
about it?

10. The SERP answer
Education is missing the equivalent of the teaching
hospital in medicine, that is:
Field Sites: places where researchers, teachers and
designers work together in practice settings to:
• Observe, explain, document, replicate and
evaluate practice as a source of new
knowledge.
• Define problems and test solutions in context.
• Create new curricula and tools to improve how
students learn
.

11. https://serpinstitute.org

12. The new farmer-centered research centers
announced yesterday by Dr. Renu Swarup,
Secretary Department of Biotechnology,
will resemble the SERP Field Sites:
Indian farmers = U.S. teachers
Sustainable farmer livelihoods = Good student outcomes
Indian Scientists and Engineers = U.S. University Faculty
Not only harvest and respect farmer knowledge and ideas,
also focus the work of outstanding scientists and engineers
on the major problems that farmers identify!

13. CITATION:
In the 1970s, Colbert addressed the challenge of developing cost-effective, practical models for
the tens of thousands of small rural schools scattered across her nation, Columbia.
With a focus on cooperative learning and cross-peer tutoring, she used extensive cycles of
feedback and continuous improvement to transition from conventional, teacher-centered,
schooling practices to a new learner-centered model that coherently integrates the curriculum,
teacher training and community involvement.
STUDENT “LEARNING GUIDES” PRODUCED TO REDUCE NEED FOR TEACHER TRAINING
FOR STUDENTS AGES 5 TO 18
Vicki Colbert accepting the
Yidan Education Development
Prize, Hong Kong, Dec. 2017
(4 million US dollars)
My final topic:
EMBEDDING COMMUNITY ACTIVITY IN SCHOOLS

14. From one of several hundred
student “Learning Guides”
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

15. Free curricula designed to empower youth ages 8-17
to use science for social good:
The world association of 140 science academies (the IAP) is creating a
COMMUNITY ORIENTED CURRICULUM FOR THE WORLD

16. ©2019 Smithsonian Science Education Center
Examples of what students do in groups:
 Map their community.
 Determine where
mosquitoes live in their
community.
 Investigate how to
control the mosquito
population near their
school, museum, or
neighborhood.
Students in Panama
and Malawi using the
“Mosquito!” curriculum

18. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE?
An education system that:
• Provides credit in school for focused student work in the
community, while encouraging students to work cooperatively
(as in Columbia)
• Harnesses the talents of volunteers who supplement the
teachers
• Produces adults who can help to build a more sustainable
world

19. IN SUMMARY
To create a peaceful, sustainable world, the
challenges ahead for scientists are enormous
But -- inspired by M.S. Swaminathan’s
great accomplishments, his vision and his
energy – we shall find a way.

20. “Science knows no country..
Knowledge belongs to humanity..
It’s the torch that illuminates the world.”
Louis Pasteur
HAPPY 94TH BIRTHDAY TO
OUR GREAT ROLE MODEL!