Development & Assessment of a Multimedia Plant Science Laboratory

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Laboratory software modules, linked to a videodisc of still, motion, and animation sequences, will be used in a new undergraduate plant science lab. We will link the laboratory computers in a local area network so that groups of students can communicate with other groups (and with the teaching assistant) in order to work on open-ended, thought-provoking exercises in a cooperative, collaborative learning environment of scientific discourse and debate. We further propose to test the new and existing modules and exercises to assess the changes in the teaching/learning process that occur upon adoption of this new educational technology. A core of 15 multimedia lab modules has been produced through collaboration of VPI Learning Research Center and the Department of Biology. This core material lacks self-help tutorials to guide students through its complex new format, which shifts the traditional lab goal of demonstration to one of understanding causal relations and interconnectedness. We use ecology and evolution as major themes to interpret plant construction, growth, and development, reproduction,and grouping. With NSF support we will develop the self-help tutorials and cooperative learning exercises for the 15 core modules, produce alternatives for several of them, implement the local area network, and design and implement assessment instruments to analyze our software modules and the changes in teaching/learning that this new educational technology brings to the life sciences.