POSTER SESSION AND PRESENTATION OF PROJECTSBelow are some of the abstracts, along with supporting materials, from the poster session at the symposium. Faculty Respond: How do you find and use online teaching materials?Alan Wolf Higher education instructors are seeking high quality digital content and the National SMETE Digital Library was formed to address this need. Our NSDL project has been conducting focus groups with faculty from a spectrum of institutional types. We summarize participants_ responses regarding what kinds of materials that they seek, where and how they seek these materials, whether they share their own materials, and what barriers they encounter in finding, sharing, and using these materials. Our results are being shared with digital library projects and are the basis for a nation-wide survey on digital library & material usage. To participate in research that will help the NSDL improve the content and services that its member libraries offer, please visit: http://serc.carleton.edu/facultypart A Web-Based Tutorial in Bioinformatics for UndergraduatesRoss S. Feldberg This poster describes a web-based tutorial on fundamental concepts in bioinformatics that can be implemented in a variety of contexts in the undergraduate curriculum. The Tutorial provides background information and exercises in the following areas:
This site is designed to give students hands-on experience with some of the fundamental tools used in modern molecular biology and to help students move away from text-book based information sources and to the actual research tools. The site can be viewed at http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/bioinformatics/index.html A Semester-Long Undergraduate Biochemistry Lab Project Utilizing Computational DNA Sequence Analysis and Confocal MicroscopyRobert M. Bellin This year's Holy Cross Biochemistry II lab class focused on a project to develop plasmid DNA constructs that allow the expression of an EGFP-merlin fusion protein in mammalian cells. The lab was conducted utilizing the BlackBoard course management software package to provide students easy access to laboratory protocols, class-generated data and useful web links. The students in the class successfully created three different DNA constructs that allow the expression of EGFP fused with the full-length neurofibromatosis type-2 tumor suppressor protein merlin, or particular stretches of the overall protein coded by a single exon of the human gene. The overall project involved genomic DNA preparation, primer design, PCR amplification, cloning, plasmid DNA preparation, DNA sequence analysis, mammalian cell transfection and live cell imaging on the Department's new Leica TCS SP5 laser scanning confocal microscope. Results of these studies will be presented, including representative images generated by students using the microscope. Thanks to the National Science Foundation and the Holy Cross Biology Department for financial support of this class project. To download a copy of Robert Bellin’s poster, in the form of Powerpoint slides, click here. Preventing HIV/AIDS in NYC's Adolescent Women of ColorAlana Proctor The project discusses the increased rate of HIV/AIDS among African American and Hispanic adolescent women from a biological and social perspective, and seeks to research effective methods of articulating HIV/AIDS prevention information to adolescent women of color. The product of this work includes a supplement to New York City's current HIV/AIDS curriculum, in which HIV/AIDS information is placed in a gender, racial and ethnic relevant context. Decontaminated: Dissecting the Fears and Realities of BioterrorismAngelica N. Ferguson Decontaminated is the beginning of a larger project that consists of a docudrama designed to explore scientific and social issues surrounding bioterrorism. This video also functioned as a teaching and learning exercise. At the time of shooting interviews, actors possessed a command of the material they would discuss. The video was edited in Final Cut Pro, converted to a Quicktime movie, and then converted to DVD using iDVD. To download a PDF of Angelica Ferguson’s poster, click here. General Biology Gets Extreme Makeover Richard Shingles With the help of the Johns Hopkins Center for Educational Resources and a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, General Biology in the past three years has been transformed from a primarily lecture-based course to an interactive one that features an electronic in-class polling system, mentoring by upperclass students and a Web-enabled field study project that requires students to scour the campus for flora and fauna. Additional technological improvements such as mobile computing carts in the laboratory, use of Tablet PC’s, a course management system and podcasting have provided students with better access to course materials and have stimulated their interest in the course as evidenced by a large increase in class attendance. To download Richard Singles’s poster, in the form of Powerpoint slides, click here. ICEFISH (www.icefish.neu.edu)( International Collaborative Expedition to Collect and Study Fish Indigenous to Sub-Antarctic Habitats) Alicia K. Russell The ICEFISH Web site’s primary goal was to provide a means for different audiences to follow the progress and findings of the 2004 NSF-funded Sub-Antarctica research cruise. The international research community, undergraduates, and K-12 students learned about five research strands: systematics and evolutionary studies; life cycles and population dynamics; physiological, biochemical, and molecular biological studies of major organ and tissue systems; genomic resources for Notothenioids, and ecological studies of benthic invertebrates. The PIs hope the site can attract undergraduates to pursue graduate studies in biological sciences. Additionally, the 30 international scientists aboard the cruise can integrate research findings into their courses. Innovation in Columbia’s Core Curriculum - Frontiers of Science Elina Yuffa Frontiers of Science is a semester-long course (a weekly small seminar and lecture) taken by all entering Columbia College first-year students (“science” and “non-science”). The course is interdisciplinary: of the four course modules, half are from the physical sciences and half from the life sciences. An online text – Scientific Habits of Mind – was created to emphasize elements (scale, probability, etc.) common to a scientific approach and view of the world. All lectures are recorded as video podcasts. Seminar materials include interrupted case studies, class exercises and structured discussion. Frontiers will be available as an online resource for science educators ( Columbia’s Digital Knowledge Ventures; support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute). For more information about Columbia’s Frontiers of Science program, click here. Or contact: Using Technology Allows Emphasis on Physiological Principles, Not EquipmentJennifer Nauen One challenge of teaching physiology in the laboratory is keeping the emphasis on understanding physiological principles rather than mastering the equipment. At Harvard College we use the ADInstruments PowerLab system on Macintosh computers for easy signal acquisition, processing and recording in our muscle and heart physiology labs. The PowerLab system integrates an intuitive user interface (Chart software) and “plug and play” signal amplifiers and converters. All the equipment is approved for use with human subjects. In addition, a Quicktime video tool is integrated into the software that allows simultaneous recording and synchronization of video with the data signals. Using this tool, students are able to develop and test complex hypotheses that link body movement and muscle function. These types of questions are the staple of muscle physiology and kinesiology studies; adopting this software greatly increased the sophistication of student experiments and their understanding of this topic. Chart’s built-in spreadsheet, with functions including statistics and waveform analysis, allows students to collect and quantitatively analyze their data, export it to Excel for plotting, and leave the three hour lab ready to write their lab report. Come try Chart at our PowerLab system set-up at the poster session. The link to the company that makes the physiology teaching equipment is: Creating animations with high school biology teachersTara Bennett and Susan Johnson The Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, in conjunction with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, offers a variety of programs for high school biology teachers and their students. MCB-HHMI Outreach’s Summer Workshop in Biology and Multimedia immerses teachers in current research on a specific topic and asks them to produce educational multimedia based on that research. In particular, groups of teachers work with professional animators to develop animations that elucidate key biological concepts. Visit the MCB-HHMI Outreach website: http://www.outreach.mcb.harvard.edu. Multimedia ProjectLeigh Stimolo and A.Thomas Torello Truly a multi media project, the Biological Sciences Media Project, sponsored in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard University, consists of studio and on location video shoots, animation, and studio recorded voice-over audio — delivered freely to the public via the internet. This project began as an initiative, outlined by grant PI, Robert Lue, that would utilize video and animation to supplement laboratory teaching in the core sequence of courses in the Biological Sciences. The objective was to make laboratory demonstrations consistent in content and length for all students, explain the history/molecular basis of any given experiment (in addition to an actual demonstration in the laboratory), allow graduate and undergraduates to work closely with one another on academic content creation, improve the teaching of methodology, and support biological concepts. The project has since increased in scope and production value, and is targeted to anyone with an interest in fundamental molecular and cellular biology concepts and lab protocols. Please visit our internal production site: http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/ The Wave Model and Sound: Theory, Experiment, and PedagogyFernand Brunschwig Explore the wave model! Measure the wavelength of sound using an elegant new method with a laptop! We will use laptops to generate sounds. Investigators will discover a puzzling pattern in the sounds. We will discuss how to account for the sound patterns using the wave model and explain a new, simple and direct method to measure the wavelength and find the speed of sound. This experiment has been used effectively as a home experiment. Deeper implications include: How to use the wave model in developing understanding of the process of science. Scaffolding conceptual development of fundamental wave concepts and applying them effectively. Using waves as a broadly applicable scientific model with a direct route to modern science (physics, biology, Earth science, etc.). The wave model as a vehicle to more general understanding of the use of models and theories in science. Alternative conceptions generated by students will be considered, as well as ways to build upon students' experience and to resolve apparent conflicts with common sense. The Sound and Waves Computer-based Physics Lab can be purchased for $10 at: http://favantsoftware.home.att.net/wavelab.htm Questions? Contact Fernand Brunschwig at fbrunsch@esc.edu 3D image processing and display techniques (including stereoscopic 3D) in the teaching of anatomyRichard S. Breiman Recent advances in image processing techniques provide tools for the creation and interactive manipulation of high resolution life-like 3D displays of human anatomy from gray-scale cross sectional CT and MR scans. In addition to applications in medical diagnosis, surgical planning, and intra-operative guidance, these 3D displays have great educational potential. An advanced 3D workstation at UCSF also has the capability of creating a stereoscopic 3D display environment in which the viewer is immersed in the anatomy. The student can manipulate his/her viewing perspective to examine anatomic detail from within the specimen. Motion tracking tools are being developed which will allow the student to navigate through 3D anatomic space by aiming a hand-held device in the direction of desired exploration. These tools provide an intuitive, engaging environment for the student to gain a better understanding of complex anatomic relationships than possible from conventional 2D displays. Questions? Contact Richard Breiman at richard.breiman@radiology.ucsf.edu |