CCD: Development of an Interdisciplinary Biocomputing Course at the Introductory Level

生物计算是一个新兴的交叉学科领域，它使用计算方法来分析快速增长的生物数据。随着生物信息的不断增加，各级工业界和学术界对生物计算专家的需求肯定会越来越大，从拥有博士学位的资深科学家到拥有理科或理科学士学位的实验室科学家。然而，目前在生物学和计算机科学方面同时拥有这种交叉学科技能的科学家太少了，无法满足这种需求。因此，本项目就是为了解决这一迫切的问题而提出的。这个项目的总体目标是将生物计算引入本科课程的头两年，并为本科生从事与生物计算相关的职业做好准备。为了帮助实现这一目标，正在开发一门名为生物计算入门的新课程。课程形式包括核心讲座、实验练习、小组讨论和课程专题。新课程的这些组成部分都是精心设计的，以促进学生在生物计算领域的学术兴趣和成功。该课程所需的教科书和实验手册也在编写中。一名独立评估员正在对这一努力进行评估。为了帮助传播，正在设计一个虚拟的在线课程，并在万维网上提供。

Biocomputing is a newly emerging interdisciplinary field which uses computational methods to analyze the fast-growing biological data. As biological information continues to increase, there is certainly an increasing demand for biocomputing experts by industry and academia at all levels, from senior scientists with a Ph. D. degree to laboratory scientists with MS or B.S. degrees. Currently, however, there are too few scientists who possess such cross-disciplinary skills in both biology and computer science to meet such demand. Therefore, this project is proposed to address this urgent problem. The overall goal of this project is to introduce biocomputing into the first two years of the undergraduate curriculum and to prepare undergraduate students for pursuing biocomputing-related careers. To help accomplish this goal, a new course entitled Introduction to Biocomputing is being developed. The course format consists of core lectures, laboratory practices, group discussion, and a course project. These components of the new course are carefully designed to promote student academic interest and success in the field of biocomputing. A textbook and laboratory manual needed for the course, are also being prepared. The effort is being evaluated by an independent evaluator. To aid dissemination, a virtual on-line course is being designed and provided on the World Wide Web.