SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) – in Georgia SENCER is a comprehensive national dissemination project housing at the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology SENCER is funded by the National Science Foundation and started in USA in 2001.

SENCER, Overview and Program Areas SENCER works through a coordinated set of activities and programs, including the SENCER Summer Institutes, SENCER Models, SENCER Assessment. - SENCER course models teach "through“ science to the complex, capacious, and unsolved public issues. - These courses and programs employ rigorous interdisciplinary approaches to teaching basic science and strengthening students’ capacities to become engaged citizens. - Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make the difference.” (T.Ehrlich, 2000, Iindiana University).

SENCER Models The SENCER models are curricular approaches to improving science learning and supporting engagement with complex issues. The SENCER approach requires students to engage in serious scientific reasoning, inquiry, observation. SENCER courses and programs connect scientific knowledge to public decision-making, policy development, and the effective "work" of citizenship. SENCER approaches encourage students to engage in research, to produce knowledge, to develop answers, SENCER models reflect the intellectual curiosity of the faculty who developed them. At the same time, they respond to student interests, including personal interests, as well as public or civic ones.

SENCER Model Science Topic: An overview of human organ systems and life processes including homeostasis; integration and control of human body (nervous system); biological basis of addiction, dependence and tolerance, drugs and alteration of communication Alcohol absorption, distribution and elimination. Alcohol, central nervous system and health. Antioxidants. Biochemical basis of nicotine addiction. Effects of second hand smoke. Civic or Policy issues: How successful are current treatment programs? Discussion of moral vs. medical models of addiction and their impact on policies. Is Alcohol good for your health? Smoker’s rights vs. non-smoker’s rights. Should it be legal to discriminate against addicts?

The SENCER Summer Institute The SENCER Summer Institutes (SSI) are annual, invitational, intensive, residential, team-based learning opportunities for faculty, academic leaders and students. The Institutes represent the cornerstones of SENCER’s faculty development and academic reform program. The Institutes feature a rich mix of plenaries, workshops, and concurrent sessions that focus not only on what students should learn, but how that learning might best be accomplished. SENCER Summer Institute , August 3 - 6, Portland, Maine,Hosted by the University of Southern Maine

Assessment and Program Evaluation The data provided by >10,000 students in 345 SENCER courses who complete the SENCER-SALG(Student Assessment of Learning Gains) have been analyzed in the University of Colorado. Women gained more than men and non-science majors gained more than science majors on many of the items and composite variables (a fact that the evaluators note “is encouraging evidence given that females and non-science majors have traditionally been underserved or overlooked in many university science programs”). The patterns of gains were in line with efforts by SENCER to encourage awareness of the link between civic issues and scientific content. Roughly a fifth of students who had never engaged in civic activities said they were more likely to participate in these activities after a SENCER course completion. Ten percent of students who on the pre-survey were not interested in taking additional science or mathematics courses reported on the post-survey that there were very or extremely interested in doing so. Similarly, slightly more than 6% percent now say they would like to consider exploring career opportunities in science and nearly 5% are now “interested in teaching science.”

SENCER in Georgia In September 2004 the supplemental SENCER- Georgia project started in three most important research and teaching State Universities in the Republic of Georgia In the framework of SENCER-Ge project were established: SENCER-Georgia Group Mission: Promotion of Science Development and Education Teaching and Learning Centers at the Georgian Universities Mission: enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning