Neurobiology Laboratory Exercises in Software

耶鲁大学和德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校的科学家/教育工作者的合作解决了本科生神经科学教育的一个基本需求：一种说明和探索神经功能基础过程的方法。其目的是创建一系列实验室模拟练习，并附带一份手册，旨在加强基本概念的学习，通过解决问题促进创造性思维，鼓励模拟和实验之间富有成效的互动，并为希望从事独立研究项目的学生提供一个起点。与现有的教育模拟器相比，该工作具有三个主要优势。首先，通过将这些练习锁定在几本领先的神经科学教科书上，可以最大限度地扩大潜在受众。其次，将讨论目前的教育模拟器没有涵盖的重要主题。第三，这些练习将使用Neuron进行，它在MS-Windows(3.1、95和NT)和Unix操作系统下运行，并将于1997年年中在Macintosh系统上运行。神经元是一个研究级工具，它为神经模拟提供了一个灵活而强大的环境，以便教师可以定制和扩展这些练习，学生可以创建自己的模型和模拟。将请一名专家顾问协助进行项目评价的全面指导。还将征求一个顾问小组的反馈意见，这些顾问在几所学院和大学向本科生教授神经科学方面有相当丰富的经验，其中一些人自己开发了神经科学教育软件。这些练习的教育效用将通过它们对学生表现和对神经科学的态度的影响来评估。项目成果将通过在专业学会会议上的陈述、文章、因特网以及一家大型科学出版社出版手册和软件的方式传播。

This collaboration between scientist/educators at Yale and the University of Texas at San Antonio addresses a basic need in undergraduate neuroscience education: a means to illustrate and explore the processes that underlie neuronal function. The objective is to create a series of laboratory simulation exercises, with an accompanying manual, that are designed to reinforce learning of basic concepts, promote creative thinking through problem solving, encourage productive interplay between simulation and experimentation, and provide a launching point for students who wish to pursue independent research projects. The proposed work has three principal advantages over existing educational simulators. First the potential audience will be maximized by keying these exercises to several leading neuroscience textbooks. Second, important topics will be addressed that are not covered by present educational simulators. Third, these exercises will be implemented using NEURON, which runs under MS-Windows (3.1, 95 and NT) and UNIX, and which will be running on Macintosh systems by mid-1997. NEURON is a research level tool that provides a flexible and powerful environment for neural simulations, so that teachers can tailor and extend these exercises, and students can create their own models and simulations. The assistance of an expert consultant will be enlisted for overall guidance in project evaluation. Feedback will also be solicited from a panel of advisors who have considerable experience teaching neuroscience to undergraduates at several colleges and universities, some of whom have themselves developed software for neuroscience education. The educational utility of these exercises will be assessed by their impact on student performance and attitudes regarding neuroscience. Project results will be disseminated through presentations at professional society meetings, articles, the Internet, and publication of the manual and software by a major scientific publishing house.