RCN-UBE: VISABLI, an RCN-UBE for Visualizations, Interactive Simulations, and Animations for Biology Learning & Instruction

生物过程现在支撑着社会的方方面面，从在刑事司法系统中使用DNA，到为适应个人之间的生化变化而设计的个性化医学的作用。无论有没有高等教育背景的公民，越来越多地被要求根据他们对生物学的理解做出有影响力的选择。多媒体学习资源(插图、动画、互动媒体)在生物教育中发挥着重要作用，不仅是当今本科生科学课堂的共同特征，而且也是各种非正式学习环境(例如，在线/印刷新闻媒体和科学博物馆)的共同特征。教师依靠这些视觉学习资源进行教学，学生寻找这些资源来支持他们的学习。尽管这些资源很受欢迎，但人们对它们在支持本科生物学学习方面的有效性知之甚少。事实上，这些资源的科学准确性、清晰度和质量可能是高度可变的。VISABLI网络的一个主要目标是解决负责科学可视化设计和评估的社区与在课堂上使用这些材料的教师之间的公认差距。我们寻求将这些不同的学科连接成一个网络，促进新知识的共同创造和引发创新研究；这三个基本上独立的社区有一个共同的目标，那就是提高教学可视化的设计效率。网络活动将侧重于深入的需求评估，随后举行会议，将这三个社区的成员聚集在一起，以确定和开发共享资源，并将以VISABLI网站来传播这些资源。我们将与生物科学学会合作组织一系列研讨会，在此期间，协作故事板等活动将使教师更好地了解可视化过程，并欣赏可视化设计和教学法的困难交集。这些活动也将有助于找出现有课程不能很好地服务的教学领域。该项目由生物科学总局生物基础设施部和教育与人力资源总局本科教育司联合资助，作为他们应对本科生物学教育愿景与变革：行动呼吁(http://visionandchange/finalreport/).This奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估)中提出的挑战的一部分。

Biological processes now underpin all aspects of society, from the use of DNA in the criminal justice system, to the role of personalized medicine designed to accommodate biochemical variation among individuals. Citizens, with and without higher educational backgrounds, are increasingly required to make impactful choices based on their understanding of biology. multimedia learning resources (illustrations, animations, interactive media) play an essential role in biology education and are a common feature not only in today's undergraduate science classrooms, but also in various informal learning settings (online/print news media and science museums for example). Instructors rely upon these visual learning resources for teaching and students seek them out in support of their studies. Despite the popularity of these resources, little is known about their efficacy in supporting learning in undergraduate biology. Indeed, the scientific accuracy, clarity, and quality of these resources can be highly variable. A primary goal of the VISABLI network is to address an acknowledged gap between the communities responsible for the design and evaluation of scientific visualizations and the teachers who use these materials in the classroom. We seek to connect these distinct disciplines into a network fostering the co-creation of new knowledge and sparking innovative research; these three largely independent communities share a common goal of improving the design efficacy of instructional visualizations. The network activities will focus on an in-depth needs assessment, followed by meetings bringing together members of these three communities to identify and develop shared resources, and will conclude with a VISABLI website to disseminate them. We will work with the biology scientific societies to organize a series of workshops during which activities like collaborative storyboarding will give instructors a better sense of the visualization process and an appreciation for the difficult intersection of visualization design and pedagogy. These activities will also help to identify areas of instruction that are not well served with existing curricula.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.