Development and Evaluation of StarCellBio: A Cell Biology Experiment Simulator for Science Education

StarCellBiology采用了一套硅细胞生物学实验模拟，用于为本科生讲座和实验课生成现实问题。细胞生物学模拟将增强已经在STAR网站http://web.mit.edu/star/上的生物化学（StarBiochem）和遗传学（StarGenetics）材料。学术价值:这些材料和随附的教师指南通过提供教育软件和课程材料丰富了科学教育，这些软件和课程材料(i)通过交互式的、现实的、计算机生成的模拟实验提供基于探究的学习体验，（ii）让学生接触到从前沿研究中获得的实际数据示例，（iii）在一系列教育水平上都很有用，（iv）旨在适应教师确定的定制。(v)可以很容易地在现有的课程中实施，以及(v)可以通过互联网在世界范围内自由和公开地获取。这个交互式的、基于探究的虚拟实验模拟器使学生能够参与实验推理过程，为他们提供虚拟的机会，让他们确定需要什么实验来回答特定的生物学问题，设计和执行这些实验，分析生成的数据，进行后续实验，并从他们自己的调查中得出结论。它为学生提供了在学习过程中与真实视觉细胞生物学数据互动的机会，以及利用显微镜图像和延时电影数据来演示关键主题，包括细胞周期，细胞内定位和共定位，运输，信号传导，细胞运动，细胞多样性和组织组织。更广泛的影响：在目前可用的两套STAR材料成功采用设计模型之后，每个StarCellBio实验模拟的特定组件由讲师通过使用在线免费提供的可修改模板来定义，并且StarCellBio的测试版由教师和学生评估功能和可用性。该评估计划利用科学教育中成熟的研究工具，并采用混合方法来(i)衡量学生对细胞和分子生物学概念的知识和理解的收获，（ii）探索学生设计、实施和合理解释生物实验结果的能力的发展，（iii）衡量学生对进一步学习生物学的态度和动机的变化。（iv）查询学生对StarCellBio工具的总体反应。广泛的传播方法包括在线广告活动和直接邮寄给全国大学的生物学教师。该项目由生物科学理事会、生物基础设施司和教育和人力资源理事会、本科教育司共同资助，作为他们为实现本科生物学教育的愿景和变革所做努力的一部分。

StarCellBiology employs a set of in silico cell biology experiment simulations for use in generating realistic problems for undergraduate student lecture and laboratory classes. The cell biology simulations will augment the biochemistry (StarBiochem) and genetics (StarGenetics) materials already on the STAR web site http://web.mit.edu/star/. Intellectual Merit: The materials and accompanying faculty guidelines are enriching science education by supplying educational software and curricular materials that (i) provide for inquiry-based learning experiences through interactive, realistic, computer-generated simulations of experiments, (ii) expose students to examples of actual data acquired from cutting-edge research, (iii) are useful across a range of educational levels, (iv) are designed to accommodate instructor-determined customization, (v) can be easily implemented in existing course curricula, and (v) are freely and openly accessible worldwide via the internet. This interactive, inquiry-based, virtual experiment simulator enables students to engage in the experimental reasoning process by providing virtual opportunities for them to determine what experiments are needed to answer particular biological questions, design and perform those experiments, analyze the data generated, perform follow-up experiments, and draw conclusions from their own inquiries. It offers students the opportunity to interact with real visual cell biology data in the course of their studies, as well as utilize microscopy image and time-lapse movie data in demonstrations of key topics, including cell cycle, intracellular localization and colocalization, trafficking, signaling, cell motility, cell diversity, and tissue organization. Broader Impact: Following a design model successfully employed in the two sets of STAR materials currently available, the specific components of each StarCellBio experiment simulation are defined by the instructor through use of a modifiable template that is freely available online, and a beta version of StarCellBio was assessed for function and usability by faculty and students. The evaluation plan utilizes research instruments well established in science education and includes mixed-method approaches to (i) measure gains in student knowledge and comprehension of cell and molecular biology concepts, (ii) probe development of student ability to design, conduct, and reasonably interpret results of biological experiments, (iii) measure changes in students' attitudes and motivation towards pursuing further study in biology, and (iv) query overall student response to the StarCellBio tool. Broad dissemination approaches include online advertising campaigns and direct mailings to biology faculty at universities nationwide.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 toward Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.