iNeuron: A contemporary platform for neuroscience education

描述(由申请人提供)：Adventium实验室和明尼苏达大学(UMN)提议开发一个参与式教育工具包和课程，通过探索性和研究性学习教授神经科学和心理健康概念，将神经系统功能与工程、技术和数学概念相结合。INeuron“模拟神经元、突触和电路功能，并将使用教室中日益常见的移动计算设备提供一个引人入胜的、动手操作的、解决问题的学习环境。该项目将结合1)灵活的多模式软件体系结构的开发，该体系结构将教室级和分布式课堂学习环境集成在多个具有集中管理和协调的交互式手持设备上，以及2)一套身临其境的基于故事的神经科学挑战，通过将一组手持电子设备转变为功能连接的神经元来教授关键概念。通过参与解决这些挑战，学生们将加深他们对自己的大脑如何控制身体和认知功能以及如何随着学习而变化的理解。随后，学生认识到他们负责改变自己的大脑，这有望激励学习者在学校发挥自己的作用。我们在第一阶段展示了，考虑到使用最新技术带来的高激励价值，基于移动设备的交互式神经科学应用程序(INeuron)是传播神经科学概念的一个有吸引力和实用的策略。第二阶段建立在此基础之上，以进一步改善学生的学习成果。拟议的研究结果将部署一个易于使用、引人入胜和教师可定制的平台来教授神经科学课程，包括新的下一代科学标准。Adventium与明尼苏达大学的神经科学家和一家软件开发公司合作，开发了一个通用框架，以教学辅助的形式使用移动设备教授STEM科目，提供基于技术的协作环境来教授复杂的概念。第二阶段将提供在iPod和iPad上运行的iNeuron应用程序，这是一款教师仪表板应用程序，允许教师定制课堂内容并进行监控，同时在学生完成挑战时与他们互动，以及鼓励有效学习的信息展示、互动模型和游戏策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adventium Labs and the University of Minnesota (UMN) propose to develop a participatory educational toolkit and curriculum to teach neuroscience and mental health concepts via exploratory and investigative learning that integrates nervous system function with engineering, technology and mathematics concepts. iNeuron" models neuronal, synaptic, and circuit functions, and will provide an engaging, hands-on, problem-solving learning environment using mobile computing devices that are growing more common in classrooms. This project will combine development of 1) a flexible, multimodal software architecture integrating classroom level and distributed classroom learning environments hosted on multiple, interactive hand-held devices with centralized management and coordination and 2) an immersive story-based set of neuroscience challenges to teach key concepts by transforming a set of handheld electronic devices into functionally connected neurons. By engaging in solving these challenges, students will deepen their understanding of how their own brains control body and cognitive functions and change with learning. Subsequently, the students' understanding that they are in charge of changing their own brains is expected to motivate learners to apply themselves in school. We showed in Phase 1 that given the high motivational value associated with using up-to-date technology, an interactive neuroscience-based application for mobile devices (iNeuron) is an attractive and practical strategy for disseminating neuroscience concepts. Phase 2 builds upon this established foundation to further improve student learning outcomes. The results of the proposed research will deploy an easy-to-use, engaging, and teacher-customizable platform for teaching neuroscience curricula, including the new Next Generation Science Standards. Adventium has partnered with neuroscientists from the University of Minnesota and a software development company to develop a general-purpose framework to teach STEM subjects using a mobile device in the form of a teaching aid, providing collaborative technology-based environments to teach complex concepts. Phase 2 will deliver the iNeuron application running on iPods and iPads, a teacher dashboard application that allows teachers to customize content to classrooms and monitor while interacting with students as they complete challenges, and information presentation, interaction models, and game strategies that encourage effective and efficient learning.