Computer-Aided Instruction in Biology

该奖项为印第安纳州的生物系提供资金 布卢明顿大学帮助引进计算机辅助 他们的课程应该提供 他们的智力进步所需的物理环境， 教学 将完成三个项目， 提高生物学教学的有效性， 本科生 这三个项目针对三个 不同层次：非专业的入门课程， 专业的中级课程和高级课程 少校 在专业的高级课程中，计算机辅助数据 采集和分析将被引入实验室。 其他两个级别与 生物教学的标准方法。 的列报 任何科学课程的材料，一个人被约束来描述 材料以顺序的方式，第一个主题，然后下一个。 教科书也被限制在这种线性呈现。 然而，所讨论的材料是相互关联的，例如 这门课的前半部分和后半部分 课程，相互交织。 这是一个主要的障碍，学生， 抓住这些联系;然而，正是这些联系帮助了 学生获得科学的身体真实的理解 知识 为了帮助学生了解这些联系， 生物系将在他们的课程中引进一台计算机 实验，学生将可以访问非顺序的 在超文本环境下建立的链接信息库 Hypercard for the Macintosh. 进入该系统将 为学生提供探索关系的设施， 各种讲座和实验室的主题，并有照明 联系 据信，这将超越一个 理解生物材料的主要困难。 的 受资助机构正在将这个NSF奖项与来自 非联邦来源

This award provides funds to the Department of Biology at Indiana University, Bloomington to help introduce computer-aided instruction into their curriculum which should provide the physical setting required for an intellectual advance in their teaching. Three projects will be completed which are aimed at increasing the effectiveness of teaching biology to undergraduates. These three projects are aimed at three different levels: introductory courses for non-majors, intermediate level courses for majors, and advanced courses for majors. In the advanced courses for majors, computer-aided data acquisition and analysis will be introduced into the laboratory. The other two levels represent a significant departure from the standard methods for biology teaching. In the presentation of material any science course, one is constrained to describe the material in a sequential manner, first one topic, then the next. Textbooks are also constrained to this linear presentation. However, the material that is discussed is interrelated, such that earlier and later portions of the course, and indeed, of the curriculum, are interwoven. It is a major hurdle for students to grasp the connections; yet, it is these connections which help students gain a real understanding of the body of scientific knowledge. In order to help students see these connections, the biology department will introduce into their courses a computer lab, in which students will have access to a non-sequentially linked information base constructed in the hypertext environment of Hypercard for the Macintosh. Access to this system will provide students with the facility to explore the relationships of various lecture and laboratory topics, and there by illuminate the connections. It is believed that this will surmount one of the major difficulties in understanding biological material. The grantee institution is matching this NSF award with funds from non-Federal sources.