The Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/MIT (VaNTH) Engineering Research Center for Bioengineering Educational Technologies

该奖项发起了“范德比尔特-西北-德克萨斯-哈佛/麻省理工学院（VANTH）生物工程教育技术工程研究中心（ERC）”。“牵头机构是田纳西州纳什维尔的范德比尔特大学;核心伙伴机构是伊利诺斯州埃文斯顿的西北大学、得克萨斯州奥斯汀的得克萨斯大学、马萨诸塞州波士顿的哈佛医学院卫生科学和技术联合系以及剑桥的马萨诸塞州理工学院。 该奖项为合作协议下的前五年努力提供资金，可能持续八年。 生物工程作为21世纪世纪的主要产业之一，继续以快速的速度出现。 ERC将学术研究人员和工业人员的团队集中在推进生物工程复杂的跨学科领域教育所需的最有效的教学法和教育技术上。 ERC对生物工程教育中下一代教育技术的愿景整合了生物工程和其他工程领域，认知科学，计算机科学/工程，教育，心理学以及生命和物理科学的知识。 该研究计划将推进异步学习网络（ALN），可视化，模拟和基于网络的学习作为生物工程教育的主要教育技术工具。 总体而言，该研究是一个模块化的，基于计算机的课件开发模板，旨在适应国家/数字图书馆数据库的科学，数学，工程和技术教育。 生物工程也将被探索作为一个背景下教核心科学和数学技能的大学预科学生。 该ERC建立在参与机构在生物工程，学习科学和教育技术方面的成熟专业知识和设施的基础上。 工业合作伙伴包括从事计算机和教育技术、科学和工程仪器、生物工程研究和实践的公司以及劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室和橡树岭国家实验室。 该ERC将与边境地区的菲斯克大学、梅哈里医学院和德克萨斯大学系统机构进行研究和教育合作。 ERC研究的预期成果包括：（1）构成生物工程领域的知识和技能的分类;（2）生物工程教育中学习、学习者、教育技术和教学法的研究进展;（3）经过测试的模块化、基于计算机的课件，为本科生和研究生生物工程课程提供可适应的核心和专业选择;（4）一套经过测试的教学方法和教师对这一课件的支持;（5）通过ALN提供学习/教学材料的功能技术;（6）一组学生通过教育技术为生物工程实践和教学以及终身学习做好更好的准备;（7）国家生物工程课程委员会;（8）向工程教育工作者广泛传播课件和课程;（9）生物工程认证和许可证标准化考试。 这个奖项是ERC的建议进入1998-1999财政年度工程研究中心的竞争根据ERC计划公告，NSF 98-68的结果。

This award initiates "The Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/Mit (VaNTH) Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Bioengineering Educational Technologies." The lead institution is Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; with Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; The University of Texas, Austin, Texas; and the joint Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Masachusetts as core partner institutions. This award funds the first five years of effort under a cooperative agreement, with a potential duration of eight years. Bioengineering continues to emerge at a rapid rate as one of the key industries of the 21st century. This ERC focuses teams of academic researchers and industrial personnel on the most effective pedagogy and educational technology needed to advance education in the complex, interdisciplinary field of bioengineering. This ERC's vision for next-generation educational technology in bioengineering education integrates knowledge in bioengineering and other engineering fields, cognitive science, computer science/engineering, education, psychology, and the life and physical sciences. The research program will advance asynchronous learning networks (ALN), visualization, simulation, and web-based learning as the major educational technology tools in bioengineering education. Overarching the research is a template for the development of modular, computer-based courseware designed to fit into a National/Digital Library database for Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education. Bioengineering will also be explored as a context to teach core science and mathematics skills to pre-college students. This ERC builds upon well-established expertise and facilities in bioengineering, learning science, and education technology at the participating institutions. Industrial partners include companies involved in computers and educational technology, scientific and engineering instrumentation, and bioengineering research and practice as well as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This ERC will outreach to Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and The University of Texas System institutions in the border regions for research and education collaborations. The expected outcomes of this ERC's research include: (1) a taxonomy of the knowledge and skills that constitute the field of bioengineering; (2) research advances on learning, learners, educational technology, and pedagogy in bioengineering education; (3) tested modular, computer-based courseware forming adaptable core and specialized options for undergraduate and graduate bioengineering curricula; (4) a suite of tested pedagogical methods and faculty support for this courseware; (5) functioning technology for the delivery of learning/teaching materials through ALN; (6) a group of students better prepared for bioengineering practice and teaching and lifelong learning through educational technology; (7) national bioengineering curriculum committees; (8) broad dissemination of courseware and curricula to engineering educators; and (9) a standardized examination for use in bioengineering accreditation and licensure. This award is the outcome of the entry of this ERC's proposal in the FY 1998-1999 Engineering Research Centers competition under the ERC Program Announcement, NSF 98-68.