SBIR Phase I: Online Chapter Marketplace for Biology Learning Materials

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段的研究项目实现了对目前大多数生物学本科生使用的阅读材料的替代。替代方案将把较小的阅读部分与更活跃的学习部分结合起来，比如模拟实验。该系统将接受来自各种作者和专业人士的投稿。目前大多数大学生物课都使用教科书来向学生呈现材料，但通过教科书学习主要是通过记忆进行的。这项研究项目将探索新的方法，使生物学学生的课后作业更加活跃，同时又不会丢失理解生物系统所需的内容。这一研究项目有可能将科学教育的支柱之一--教科书--从被动的阅读工具转变为主动的学习工具。这可能会改善美国每年至少有100万名学生参加大学水平的生物课的学习，最终可能有助于改善整个科学领域的学习。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project implements a replacement for the reading materials currently used by most undergraduate students in biology. The replacement will combine smaller reading sections with more active learning components such as simulated experiments. The system will be open to contributions from a wide variety of authors and professionals. Textbooks are currently used in most college biology classes to present material to students, but the learning through textbooks occurs primarily through memorization. This research project will explore new ways of making the take-home assignments of biology students more active, without losing the content needed for understanding biological systems. This research project has the potential to transform one of the pillars of science education, the textbook, from a passive reading instrument to an active learning tool. This could improve learning for the at least one million students per year that take college level biology classes each year in the U.S., and eventually could help improve learning across the sciences.