Exploration of Pad++ for Plant Biology Instruction

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9617288 Benfey This proposal for a small grant for exploratory research focuses on the use of the research package Pad++ to explore the use of multi-level interactive simulations for the teaching of fundamental biological concepts. The proposed work is intended to address concerns of the panel that reviewed a proposal entitled "From Genes to Rainforests" and will be performed in preparation for a resubmission of a larger proposal that integrates simulations and virtual research environments. Pad++ is a new approach to presenting and navigating information which could yield significant advances in teaching and discovering science. The fundamental metaphor of this new approach is the intuitive notion of 'zooming.' Pad++has several advantages over existing software for the teaching of fundamental biological concepts. First, zooming can be used to comprehend three-dimensional organization and to teach the relationship between levels of organization. Second, Pad's connectivity tools such as lenses can be used to simulate biological procedures. Third, relevant databases can be organized spatially on the Pad surface and accessed using Pad tools such as portals. Our ultimate goal is to use this technology to allow students to explore cutting-edge issues in plant biology by presenting real scientific problems faced by three plant biology disciplines: economic botany, plant systematic and plant molecular biology. This larger application would serve as a paradigm for using the technology to explore and integrate other fields of science education. The goal of this SGER proposal is to explore the use of Pad for the instruction of two basic biological concepts. For this prototype the focus will be on the role of regulated cell division in generating organ shape and function and the relationship between genotype and phenotype. The zooming capacity of Pad++will be used as a tool to demonstrate relationships between different levels of organization. In particular, multi-level zoomable simulations will be developed basedon molecular genetic insights into rot developmental biology. These simulations will be interactive among layers so that changing a parameter at one level of organization will cause the appropriate change at other levels. At each level of organization, Pad's connectivity tools will be available to simulate experimental procedures and to access relevant databases. The application will be tested on high school and undergraduate students in an iterative fashion. Using constructivist principles, students will be guided through the steps of generating experimental data in the virtual laboratory, hypotheses.