The committee developed a set of guidelines to facilitate the development of the educational modules and supplementary materials. It then asked prominent members of the legal and scientific communities to develop proposals for a range of topics where scientific information and understanding plays or played a critical role in decision making. The committee met with module authors to discuss their proposals and, on the basis of these discussions, contracts were awarded.

In the end, nine proposals were developed into modules. The modules are:

* The Interpretation of DNA Evidence: A Case Study in Probabilities by David H. Kaye, The Pennsylvania State University
* Models: Scientific Practice in Context by Elizabeth Fisher, Oxford University; Pasky Pascual, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Wendy Wagner, University of Texas at Austin
* Scientific Evidence of Factual Causation by Steve C. Gold, Rutgers University, Michael D. Green, Wake Forest University; and Joseph Sanders, University of Houston
* Shale Gas Development by John D. Graham, John A. Rupp, and Adam V. Maltese, Indiana University
* Drug-Induced Birth Defects: Exploring the Intersection of Regulation, Medicine, Science, and Law by Nathan A. Schachtman, Columbia University
* Forensic Pattern Recognition Evidence by Simon A. Cole and Alyse Berthenal, University of California, Irvine and Jaclyn Seelagy, University of California, Los Angeles
* Placing a Bet: A New Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease by Kevin W. Sharer, Harvard University
* Translating Science into Policy: The Role of Decision Science by Paul Brest, Stanford University
* Vaccines by Arturo Casadevall, Johns Hopkins University

The committee reviewed module drafts over the course of fifteen months. The committee had ultimate responsibility for approving the content of modules. For the duration of the project, the committee corresponded with module authors and suggested refinements and enhancements to submissions.

Materials were designed for use by faculty seeking to improve scientific understanding among legal, medical, policy, and business students, either as parts of courses or as a the basis for a course designed by individual faculty members. They have been structured to explicate core competencies9 in science and technology through illustrative case studies. While the modules are currently posted on this Academies’ website, the modules will ultimately be moved to a permanent external website that will, it is hoped, serve as a locus wherein additional educational materials may be discussed, developed, and housed.

By making exemplary educational resources readily accessible, faculty from various disciplines might easily design coursework to meet any or all of the goals stated above. The materials currently on the website have been designed to be sufficiently modular so as to allow faculty to incorporate specific components into a larger course – e.g., an evidence professor might make use of the “DNA” module within the basic evidence course, or an environmental policy professor might incorporate the “fracking” module into his or her seminar. Alternatively, multiple modules might be combined to form the basis for an integrated course on science, law, and public policy. The existence of a variety of materials in distinct topic areas provides faculty with a unique resource from which to draw materials to increase professional school students’ sophistication when confronting issues involving science.

The typical module is centered on a case or problem that elucidates some of these competencies and provides text, ancillary materials, and a guide for instructors. The modules may be used subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License. As envisioned, the materials will serve as core reference material to guide developers of future modules.

This website housing the modules is not intended as a static collection of material. Rather, it is expected that the website and collection of materials will grow over time, and this is exactly the outcome that the committee ultimately seeks. We encourage professional school faculty and others to revise the educational materials on this website to fit their particular needs and to share this resource widely.

As policy makers confront new policy issues and as scientific and technical understanding continues to evolve, educational materials in professional schools must evolve to meet the needs of a changing scientific and policy landscape.