Developing Capacities for Teaching Responsible Science in the MENA Region

Spurred on by new discoveries and rapid technological advances, the capacity for life science research is expanding across the globe—and with it comes concerns about the unintended impacts of research on the physical and biological environment, human well-being, or the deliberate misuse of knowledge, tools, and techniques to cause harm. This report describes efforts to address dual use issues by developing institutes around the world that will help life sciences faculty learn to teach about the responsible conduct of science. Based on the successful National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Biology Education and on previous NRC reports on effective methods for teaching about dual use issues, the report's authoring committee designed a general framework for the faculty institutes and chose the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region to test a prototype faculty institute.

In September 2012, the first Institute was held in Aqaba, Jordan, bringing together 28 participants from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, and Yemen to engage with effective, evidence-based teaching methods, develop curricular materials for use in their own classrooms, and become community leaders on dual use and related topics. Developing Capacities for Teaching Responsible Science in the MENA Region: Refashioning Scientific Dialogue offers insights from the institute that will help in the design and implementation of future programs in the MENA region, and in other parts of the world.

• Front Matter
• Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Responsible Conduct and Integrity in Science
• 3 The Science of Learning
• 4 The Institute
• 5 Post-Institute Activities
• 6 Evaluation, Insights, and Realities
• References
• Glossary
• Appendix A: Recommendations from the Warsaw Workshop Report: *Challenges and Opportunities forEducation about Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences*
• Appendix B: Background on The World Academy of Sciences and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Bibliotheca Alexandrina and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), for the Advancement of the Developing World
• Appendix C: Detailed Results of the June 2011 Planning Meeting
• Appendix D: Active Learning Toolkit and Images
• Appendix E: Biographies of Committee Members and Staff
• Appendix F: Institute Participants
• Appendix G: Documents from the Institute