VoxelDiscovery 5-8: Engaging the Middle Grades in Visualization of the Nervous Sy

描述(申请人提供)：VoxelDiscovery 5-8：让中学生参与神经系统可视化研究建议让中学生使用现代神经成像研究来探索与青少年生活和健康相关的问题，例如：(1)所有人的大脑都是一样的吗？(2)随着我的成长，我的大脑是如何变化的，为什么我会这样想？(3)锻炼对我的大脑也有好处吗？(4)酒精和其他药物真的对我的大脑有害吗？为了实现这一目标，将为中学科学教育开发四个VoxelDiscovery 5-8电子实验室(e-Lab)原型和相应的平板电脑应用程序(APP)。配对的电子实验室和应用程序将帮助学生培养科学思维技能，这些技能可用于在他们的生活中做出健康的选择。在为期两年的第一阶段项目中，由教材开发人员、平面设计师、课堂教师、学生、程序员、神经科学顾问、教学专家和一名独立评估者组成的团队将完成六个里程碑：1.开发四个VoxelDiscovery 5-8电子实验室原型和相应的平板电脑应用程序；2.开发支持VoxelDiscovery 5-8电子实验室和应用程序实施的在线专业开发研讨会；3.将评估整合到开发过程的各个方面；4.记录项目对学生和教师的影响，并利用这些信息计划第二阶段电子实验室和应用程序的改进；5.制定第二阶段项目的商业化计划，使卡罗尔纳生物供应公司对该项目的产品进行许可和分销；6.在专业会议、从业人员出版物和适当的社交网络资源中传播项目成果。VoxelDiscovery 5-8‘S电子实验室将在Moodle电子学习管理系统中开发，并在线提供给学校和家庭学生。为了在电子实验室中增加对神经成像数据和研究的深入探索，Science Approach将为苹果iPad等平板设备创建相应的应用程序。电子实验室/应用程序集将通过与卡罗莱纳生物供应公司的许可安排出售。为了促进电子实验室和应用程序的广泛实施，将利用网络研讨会帮助教育工作者实施VoxelDiscovery 5-8科学教育，并利用其相关应用程序和社交参与、协作和数据共享技术。独立评价将提供形成性反馈，以帮助开发电子实验室和应用程序，特别是在参与度、内容等级适当性和教学质量方面。评估还将提供关于原型对学生影响的总结性结论。 与公共健康相关：拟议的VoxelDiscovery 5-8项目将为5-8年级创建和评估基于电子学习和平板电脑的神经科学教育材料。该项目建议使中学生能够使用现代神经成像研究来评估个人选择对他们生活的影响。由于该项目的产品是为中学生命科学教育而设计的，它们将促进具有科学素养的公众的发展，从而能够弘扬已经取得的科学技术 美国在生物医学领域处于领先地位，并为其公民提供了高水平的生活。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): VoxelDiscovery 5-8: Engaging the Middle Grades in Visualization of the Nervous System proposes to empower middle school students to use modern neuroimaging research to explore questions relevant to young adolescents¿ lives and health, such as: (1) Are all people wired the same way?; (2) How is my brain changing as I grow up and why do I think the way I do?; (3) Is exercise good for my brain too?; and (4) Are alcohol and other drugs really that bad for my brain? To accomplish this goal, four prototype VoxelDiscovery 5-8 e- laboratories (e-labs) and corresponding tablet applications (apps) will be developed for middle school science education. The paired e-labs and apps will help students develop scientific thinking skills that can be used to make healthy choices in their lives. Six milestones will be completed during the two-year Phase I project by a team of instructional materials developers, graphic designers, classroom teachers, students, programmers, neuroscience advisors, pedagogical experts, and an independent evaluator: 1. Develop four prototype VoxelDiscovery 5-8 e-labs and corresponding tablet apps; 2. Develop online professional development workshops that support implementation of the VoxelDiscovery 5-8 e-labs and apps; 3. Integrate evaluation into every aspect of the development process; 4. Document the project's impact on students and teachers, and use that information to plan for improvements in the Phase II e-labs and apps; 5. Develop a commercialization plan for the Phase II project that will result in licensing and distribution of the project's products by Carolna Biological Supply; and 6. Disseminate project results at professional conferences, in practitioner publications, and via appropriate social networking resources. VoxelDiscovery 5-8's e-labs will be developed in the Moodle e-learning management system and offered online to schools and home schoolers. To add in-depth exploration of neuroimaging data and research to the e- labs, Science Approach will create corresponding apps for tablet devices such as the Apple iPad. The e-lab/ app sets will be sold via a licensing arrangement with Carolina Biological Supply. To foster widespread implementation of the e-labs and apps, Webinars will be used to help educators implement VoxelDiscovery 5-8 for science education and take advantage of its associated apps and social engagement, collaboration, and data sharing technologies. An independent evaluation will provide formative feedback to aid development of the e-labs and apps, particularly with regard to engagement, grade appropriateness of the content, and pedagogical quality. The evaluation will also provide summative conclusions about the impact of the prototypes on students. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed VoxelDiscovery 5-8 project will create and evaluate e-learning and tablet computer-based neuroscience education materials for grades 5-8. The project proposes to empower middle school students to use modern neuroimaging research to evaluate the impacts of personal choices on their lives. Because the project's products are designed for middle school life science education, they will promote development of a scientifically literate public that can carry forward the science and technology that has made the United States a leader in the field of biomedicine and has provided its citizens with a high standard of living.