Abstract Challenges for Science Educators Science teachers continuously struggle to develop hands-on, stimulating pedagological tools that capture the enthusiasm of their students, while simultaneously grappling with issues of cost- effectiveness and relevance to real-world situations. These constraints are particularly pronounced when educating indigenous students, who navigate daily between traditional and Western knowledge systems. An innovative “Screens-to-Nature” (STN) system, a portfolio of field-deployable bioassays and practical training, offers a well-designed alternative approach to transdisciplinary education, by immersing stu- dents in a guided approach to bioexploratory research. The STN bioassays simply and expediently give students the tools to detect bioactive, health- protecting properties present in local, indigenous plant materials, microbes, and fungi. The tests are reliable, accurate, low-cost, and relevant for multiple scientific disciplines. Students are transformed from observers into active researchers, able to observe and record their own uncharted scientific discoveries. Because the STN system can be implemented on traditionally-important medicinal herbs and foods, links between indigenous knowledge and Western science, as well as youth-to-elder communications, are fostered. Case studies from multiple global locations have provided positive insights as to how the STN system can stimulate the science education experience and provoke expanded science discovery. Teachers have voiced an increasing struggle to sustain students' attention and interest in science courses. Introductory science courses such as those found in high school and undergraduate curricula are challenged to motivate students for several reasons: they are usually 'required' rather than elective courses, class sizes can be large, and students tend to have negative preconceptions of science classes (Kern and Carpenter, 1984; Lila and Rogers, 1998). Students frequently criticize the impersonal lecture style in these courses, which discourages interaction between the students and professor (Seymour and Hewitt, 1997). Often there is a perceived disconnect between the material being taught in class and the 1 2 3 4 5 6 Acknowledgements: Additional scientists and students have contributed substantially to the overall GIBEX program by designing new field-deployable bioassays, fostering partnerships with international teams, and/or developing the outreach materials (website and field manuals). These include: Slavik Dushenkov, Sithes Logendra, Reni Poulev, Barbara Schmidt, Mary Grace, Brittany Graf, James White, Albert Ayeni, Elvira de Mejia, and Sasha Eisenman. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, 1201 S. Dorner Dr. Biotech Center, Foran Hall, 59 Dudley Road Department of Biological Sciences, 4775 Notwane Rd. Department of Ecology and Evolution Plants for Human Health Institute, Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, 600 Laureate Way Screens-to-Nature: Opening Doors to Traditional Knowledge and Hands-on Science Education 1 Joshua Kellogg University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 Gili Joseph Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Kerstin Andrae-Marobela and Angelina Sosome University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana Courtney Flint University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 Slavko Komarnytsky , Georgie Fear , Lena Struwe , and Ilya Raskin Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Mary Ann Lila North Carolina State University Kannapolis, NC 28081 2 3 4 4 2 3 2 5 3 2,6 Screens-to-Nature: Opening Doors to Traditional Knowledge and Hands-on Science Education 1 Joshua Kellogg University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 Gili Joseph Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Kerstin Andrae-Marobela and Angelina Sosome University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana Courtney Flint University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 Slavko Komarnytsky , Georgie Fear , Lena Struwe , and Ilya Raskin Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Mary Ann Lila North Carolina State University Kannapolis, NC 28081 2 3 4 4 2 3 2 5 3 2,6 41 NACTA Journal • September 2010