Computer Assisted Data Acquisition and Processing in Undergraduate Laboratories

生物学院是该机构生命科学本科课程的重点。它提供应用生物学学士学位，并支持生物化学、生物工程、健康和性能科学的证书课程。该机构的长期目标是通过使用现代仪器提供刺激和现实的实验室实验，提高学生追求生物科学事业的兴趣。为了实现这一目标，计算机辅助数据采集和处理正在引入实验室实验。这一过程扩大了许多本科生物实验室的实验可能性。它还缩短了为统计分析收集足够数据所需的时间和精力，从而使实验室练习的重点从数据收集转移到数据分析和解释。计算机采集和处理技术的引入使本科实验室在三个不同的领域受益；图像分析，微生物技术和环境生物学。图像测量和存储的自动化使学生能够记录有关微生物的大小、形状和透明度的统计有效数据，以确定自然种群的变异、生物量和生产力。在微生物技术实验课程中引入了自动二氧化碳分析系统，使学生能够在光盘上记录和存储连续测量结果，并进行采集后分析，以确定生长曲线和代谢率。在环境生物学实验课程中，引入计算机化分析系统来测量整个生物体和水生生态系统的能量代谢和呼吸。＊

The School of Biology is the focal point for the institution's undergraduate programs in the life sciences. It offers the Bachelor of Science degree in applied biology and supports certificate programs in biochemistry, bioengineering, and health and performance sciences. The long-term goal of the institution is to promote student interest in pursuing careers in the biological sciences by providing stimulating and realistic laboratory experiments through the use of modern instrumentation. In order to realize this goal, computer-assisted data acquisition and processing are being introduced in the laboratory experiments. This process is expanding the experimental possibilities in many undergraduate biology laboratories. It is also shortening the time and effort required to gather sufficient data for statistical analysis, which allows the focus of a laboratory exercise to shift from data collection to data analysis and interpretation. The introduction of computerized acquisition and processing techniques is benefiting the undergraduate laboratories in three distinct areas; Image Analysis, Microbial Technology, and Environmental Biology. Automation of the measuring and storage of images is allowing students to record statistically valid data regarding the size, shape, and transparency of microscopic organisms to determine variation, biomass, and productivity of natural populations. The introduction of an automated carbon dioxide analysis system in the microbial technology laboratory courses is enabling students to record and store continuous measurements on disc and perform post-acquisition analyses to determine growth curves and metabolic rates. In the environmental biology laboratory courses, a computerized analysis system is being introduced to measure energy metabolism and respiration in whole organisms and aquatic ecosystems. *