iNeuron: A contemporary platform for neuroscience education

描述（由申请人提供）：Adventium Labs和明尼苏达大学（UMN）提议开发一个参与式教育工具包和课程，通过探索性和调查性学习来教授神经科学和心理健康概念，将神经系统功能与工程，技术和数学概念相结合。iNeuron”模拟神经元、突触和电路功能，并将使用在教室中越来越常见的移动的计算设备提供一个引人入胜的、动手的、解决问题的学习环境。该项目将结合联合收割机的开发：1）一个灵活的多模式软件架构，将课堂级和分布式课堂学习环境集成在多个交互式手持设备上，并进行集中管理和协调; 2）一套沉浸式的基于故事的神经科学挑战，通过将一套手持电子设备转换为功能连接的神经元来教授关键概念。通过参与解决这些挑战，学生将加深他们对自己的大脑如何控制身体和认知功能的理解，并随着学习而变化。随后，学生们认识到他们负责改变自己的大脑，这将激励学习者在学校里努力学习。我们在第1阶段中表明，鉴于与使用最新技术相关的高激励价值，基于移动的设备（iNeuron）的交互式神经科学应用程序是传播神经科学概念的一种有吸引力和实用的策略。第二阶段建立在这个既定的基础上，进一步提高学生的学习成果。拟议研究的结果将部署一个易于使用，引人入胜和教师可定制的平台，用于教授神经科学课程，包括新的下一代科学标准。Adventium与明尼苏达大学的神经科学家和一家软件开发公司合作，开发了一个通用框架，以教具的形式使用移动终端教授STEM科目，提供基于协作技术的环境来教授复杂的概念。第二阶段将提供在iPod和iPad上运行的iNeuron应用程序，这是一个教师仪表板应用程序，允许教师在完成挑战时与学生进行互动，同时为教室定制内容并进行监控，以及鼓励有效和高效学习的信息呈现，交互模型和游戏策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adventium Labs and the University of Minnesota (UMN) propose to develop a participatory educational toolkit and curriculum to teach neuroscience and mental health concepts via exploratory and investigative learning that integrates nervous system function with engineering, technology and mathematics concepts. iNeuron" models neuronal, synaptic, and circuit functions, and will provide an engaging, hands-on, problem-solving learning environment using mobile computing devices that are growing more common in classrooms. This project will combine development of 1) a flexible, multimodal software architecture integrating classroom level and distributed classroom learning environments hosted on multiple, interactive hand-held devices with centralized management and coordination and 2) an immersive story-based set of neuroscience challenges to teach key concepts by transforming a set of handheld electronic devices into functionally connected neurons. By engaging in solving these challenges, students will deepen their understanding of how their own brains control body and cognitive functions and change with learning. Subsequently, the students' understanding that they are in charge of changing their own brains is expected to motivate learners to apply themselves in school. We showed in Phase 1 that given the high motivational value associated with using up-to-date technology, an interactive neuroscience-based application for mobile devices (iNeuron) is an attractive and practical strategy for disseminating neuroscience concepts. Phase 2 builds upon this established foundation to further improve student learning outcomes. The results of the proposed research will deploy an easy-to-use, engaging, and teacher-customizable platform for teaching neuroscience curricula, including the new Next Generation Science Standards. Adventium has partnered with neuroscientists from the University of Minnesota and a software development company to develop a general-purpose framework to teach STEM subjects using a mobile device in the form of a teaching aid, providing collaborative technology-based environments to teach complex concepts. Phase 2 will deliver the iNeuron application running on iPods and iPads, a teacher dashboard application that allows teachers to customize content to classrooms and monitor while interacting with students as they complete challenges, and information presentation, interaction models, and game strategies that encourage effective and efficient learning.