Teaching Undergraduates the Dynamics of Biology through Computer Assisted Image Analysis

通过计算机辅助图像分析教授本科生生物学动力学

• 批准号: 9552108
• 负责人: Barton Bergquist
• 金额: $ 7.5万
• 依托单位: University of Northern Iowa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-07-01 至 1997-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9552108&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Teaching; Undergraduates; Dynamics; Biology; through

For various reasons, the dynamic nature of living organisms and processes is not well understood by undergraduate college students in biology. That change and movement are the normal, vital character of living things is not easily taught using static images in books, slides, preserved specimens, and photographs. The development of computers that can capture and digitize images presents an opportunity to teach the dynamic aspects of biology in a fundamentally new way. Through this project, the university creates 10 microscope/Macintosh computer-based image analysis workstations that make it possible for students to capture and analyze images of biological dynamics in courses in the Department of Biology. The workstations are becoming important central tools in the laboratory work of courses in plant development, animal development, experimental protozoology, and general microbiology. These instruments enable students independently to investigate problems of plant and animal development as well as movement of micro-organisms in response to various stimuli. Students are able to visualize and comprehend biological phenomena in new ways. The image analysis equipment allows them to ask significant biological questions based on observations and to learn how to use quantitative approaches to answer questions and problems. The impact of this new capability is expected to extend beyond these courses to other realms of the curriculum as videos and computer files conveying dynamic, three-dimensional and developmental representations of living processes are created and used in teaching.

由于各种原因，生物有机体和过程的动态本质并没有被生物学本科生很好地理解。 变化和运动是生物的正常的、重要的特征，这一点并不容易通过书本、幻灯片、保存的标本和照片中的静态图像来教授。 能够捕捉和处理图像的计算机的发展为以一种全新的方式教授生物学的动态方面提供了机会。 通过这个项目，该大学创建了10个基于显微镜/Macintosh计算机的图像分析工作站，使学生能够在生物学系的课程中捕获和分析生物动力学的图像。 这些工作站正在成为植物发育、动物发育、实验原生动物学和普通微生物学课程实验室工作的重要工具。 这些仪器使学生能够独立地研究植物和动物发育问题以及微生物对各种刺激的反应。 学生能够以新的方式想象和理解生物现象。 图像分析设备使他们能够根据观察提出重要的生物学问题，并学习如何使用定量方法来回答问题。 这种新能力的影响预计将超出这些课程的其他领域的课程的视频和计算机文件传达动态，三维和发展的生命过程的代表性创建和教学中使用。