SBIR Phase I: EvoBeaker Simulation Software for Teaching Evolutionary Biology

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段（SBIR）项目旨在开发用于教学进化生物学的模拟软件。进化论是生物学的核心学科，但它需要的概念和思维方式对大多数学生来说是具有挑战性的。此外，这是一个许多非科学家知之甚少的主题，对公立学校教授科学的方式产生了重要影响。这个项目将导致一个非常灵活的软件，允许用户设计进化模拟和学生图形化地看到在行动中的进化的发展。该软件将伴随着一套课堂测试的实验室，教授各种进化主题。学生将通过设计和执行自己的实验来学习。这个项目的商业潜力是直接和明显的。到目前为止，还没有一个好的、通用的教学计划，而市场很大，几乎包括全国的每一所中学和大学。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I (SBIR) project seeks to develop simulation software for teaching evolutionary biology. Evolution is the core subject in biology, yet it requires concepts and ways of thinking that are challenging for most students. Moreover, it is a subject that is poorly understood by many non-scientists, with important consequences on the way science is taught in public schools. This project will lead to the development of a very flexible piece of software that allows users to design evolutionary simulations and students to graphically see evolution in action. The software will be accompanied by a set of classroom-tested laboratories teaching a variety of evolutionary topics. Students will learn by designing and performing their own experiments.The commercial potential of this project is immediate and obvious. To date, a good, general purpose teaching program of the type proposed in this project is not available and the market is very large, consisting of virtually every secondary school and college in the country.