Online Multimedia Teaching Tool (OMTT) for Neurobiology

该项目正在开发一个交互式在线多媒体教学工具（OMTT），供教授和学生跨学科社区在本科神经科学、老年学、心理学、生物工程和生物学课程中使用，目的是提高广大学生对复杂科学过程的理解。 该项目的目标是： 1. 通过使课程材料更容易理解和更容易获得，加强一组不同的本科理科学生的STEM学习， 2. 向学生展示基础科学研究与科学教育之间存在的联系， 3. 通过建立一个多元化的科学社区和鼓励学生与教师的互动，提高学生在科学领域的招聘和保留。预计OMTT将通过为学生提供持续的在线访问教授在课堂上使用的课程材料来提高学习效果。 课程内容的交互式多媒体演示包括滚动文本，视频，旁白和计算机动画，从而为学生提供自定进度的访问各种丰富的课程表示。 此外，OMTT教育学生正在进行的研究和最近的科学出版物，因为它们涉及到类的主题。 对于每一个主题，学生可以探索教授的研究实验室的书面描述，一个简短的视频说明如何进行研究，以解决课堂上教授的问题，以及教授发表的文章的例子。 这一功能是为了提高学生的核心主题材料和创建这个知识库的研究之间的联系的理解，并促进学生与该领域的教授接触，并确定研究机会。 OMTT还包括学生和教授可以用来衡量学生学习的在线评估，旨在为有困难的学生提供早期干预。 学生有机会通过完成嵌入在线多媒体教学工具中的学习练习中的数字实验室练习成为数字科学家。 OMTT的目的是很容易修改和适应其他学科和其他机构的教师。 正在通过多种途径，包括设在南加州大学的途径和通过因特网，加强基础设施和广泛传播。

This project is developing an interactive online multimedia teaching tool (OMTT) to be used by an interdisciplinary community of professors and students in undergraduate neurosciences, gerontology, psychology, bioengineering and biology courses, and with the intention of improving the understanding of complex science processes by a wide range of students. The objectives of the project are to: 1. enhance STEM learning for a group of diverse undergraduate science students by making course material easier to understand and more accessible, 2. demonstrate to students the connection that exists between basic science research and science education, and 3. improve recruitment and retention of students in the sciences by building a diverse scientific community and encouraging student interaction with faculty. The OMTT is expected to enhance learning by providing students with continuous online access to course material used in class by their professors. The interactive multimedia presentation of course content includes scrolling text, video, narration and computer animations, thus offering students self-paced access to varied and rich representations of the curriculum. Additionally, the OMTT educates students about ongoing research and recent scientific publications as they relate to class topics. For each topic, students can explore a written description of a professor's research laboratory, a short video illustrating how research is performed to address the issue taught in class, and examples of articles published by the professor. This feature is meant to improve student understanding of the connection between core subject material and the research that creates this knowledge base, and to facilitate student contact with professors in the field and identify research opportunities. The OMTT also includes on-line assessments that can be used by students and professors to gauge student learning, and are intended to enable early intervention for struggling students. Students have the opportunity to become digital scientists by completing digital laboratory exercises imbedded in learning exercises in the online multimedia-teaching tool. The OMTT is designed to be easily modified and adapted by faculty in other disciplines and at other institutions. Enhancement of the infrastructure and broad dissemination is occurring through multiple avenues, including those based at the University of Southern California and via the Internet.