Past Projects in the Sciences
Personal Response Systems in Science Courses (2006)
Roger Sloboda, Biology
This application is being submitted on behalf of a group of four faculty members in two departments (Amy Gladfelter, Elizabeth Smith, and Roger Sloboda in Biological Sciences and Jon Kull in Chemistry). Our group is requesting funds to equip several Dartmouth classes per term with personal response devises to be used in a number of courses throughout the academic year. These devices enhance interaction between instructor and students, especially in large classes, allowing students to engage in problem solving individually and as a group, and provide immediate feedback about the learning process to both instructor and students. The power of such devices is that they allow both instructor and students to obtain an immediate assessment of the students' grasp of a topic just presented or discussed in class. The interaction provides openings for the instructor to engage the class in active learning. Students feel more involved in the learning process, their participation in the course is rewarded by the immediate feedback, and this translates directly into enhanced learning and retention of information for much longer a period of time after the course ends. We propose to use this technology in eight sciences courses in the next academic year.
Earth Sciences Venture Fund Proposal: Extending Mobile Technology to the Field (2005)
Carl Renshaw, Earth Sciences
We seek to address the growing disconnect between the technologically-rich learning environment Dartmouth students enjoy in the classroom and the relatively "primitive" environment we provide them during field training. This disconnect exists despite the ever-increasing technical sophistication of the instruments that we use in the field and that students later use in their post-Dartmouth careers. The fundamental pedagogic issues, however, go beyond the desire for our students to be technologically proficient. Currently, the instruments we bring to the field largely work in isolation and thus hinder the sharing of data between students and limit their learning. The promise of mobile technology in the field is to connect and share data and ideas in near real-time in a manner that fosters, rather than impedes, learning.
We are requesting Venture funding to purchase field portable computers and software to be used on our off campus studies program. Our proposal immediately involves all six faculty who co-teach the off campus program and, ultimately, other faculty in the department who teach field-based labs as part of their regular courses. The specific Dartmouth courses directly benefiting from this proposal include EARS 45, 46, and 47, all offered each fall term as the Earth Sciences Off Campus Field Studies Program (the Stretch). When not being used during the Stretch, the equipment and software will be available to all faculty in our department for use in field labs that are part of a number of our regular Dartmouth-based courses, including EARS 26 (Hydrology and Water Resources), EARS 28 (Environmental Geology), EARS 33 (Earth Surface Processes and Landforms), EARS 44 (Structural Geology), EARS 64 (Introductory Geophysics), and EARS 66 (Hydrogeology).
An Interactive, Multimedia Web site for the General Chemistry Laboratory (1998)
Sally R. Hair, Chemistry Department
This project supports the development of multimedia additions for the General Chemistry Laboratory web site at Dartmouth. The web site, Chemlab, will be used three terms each academic year by approximately 660 students enrolled in Chemistry 3, 5, and 6. The Chemlab additions will provide still photos, audio, and interactive web-based applications for student use before and after lab. These additions will enable students to prepare for experiments more thoroughly and with greater understanding than the current, text-only lab manual.
ChemLabA Course in WWW Application Development (1996)
Fillia Makedon, Computer Science Department
This project will design an introductory course to teach undergraduates how to develop multimedia applications on the World Wide Web using Java and other tools. In addition to the software engineering aspect of the course, the students will learn about general multimedia issues and limitations, how to process and prepare different media, how to evaluate existing websites for effective interface design and use of multimedia, and how to combine media in interactive presentations.
In addition to a detailed course syllabus and teaching material for introduction to HTML, PERL, CGI, JavaScript, and Java, the project will produce software tools to facilitate access to, manipulation of, and navigation through Web based information. The toolset will be designed to be used by other Dartmouth faculty to develop their lectures on the Web. As an applications testbed, a specific text of the Greek Bronze Age by Professor Jerry Rutter of the Dartmouth Classics Department will be used as the content for the production of a Bronze Age gallery for a virtual museum.
WWW Site for Application Oriented Mathematics (1996)
Shunhui Zhu, Mathematics Department
This project will develop a World Wide Web site to deliver mathematical topics to students according to their individual backgrounds and interests. The site will contain of two parts, the first will consist of mathematical topics for specific application areas such as physics, biology, chemistry, etc. This will give students in a mathematics class access to a detailed discussion of the application of that course's content to their field of interest. This will increase student motivation and aid understanding through the use of concrete examples.
The second part of the site will focus on a detailed description of the mathematical requirements for various majors in order to help students plan their academic careers and give them a more complete picture of the mathematical aspects of their field of study.
The initial development of the site will concentrate on a module for geometry, with other mathematical areas to follow. One of the main features of the site will be its interactive nature, utilizing Java applets to present examples and simulate processes.
A Digital Library of Introductory Computer Science (1994)
Samuel Rebelsky, Computer Science Department
As computer technology (particularly computer networks and multimedia) expands its role in society, it becomes increasingly important that students learn about how it functions. This project will create an interactive, multimedia library of materials from Computer Science 4 (Concepts in Computing). This digital version of the class will include handouts, class outlines, tutorial materials, student questions and answers, audio recordings of lectures, and student papers. These materials will aid students in learning introductory computer science materials and will provide a campus-wide resource on computing.
Processing Light Microscope Images (1993)
George Langford, Biology Department
Using a light microscope, Prof. Langford has proposed a project that will permit students to analyze readings on Macintosh computers that can display video sequences. Using a video output plug on the microscope, pairs of students will record a 30 second video sequence. This sequence will then be made into a digitized "movie." Students will be able to access this digital movie over the network, allowing them to analyze it for class assignments. This will be used in Biology 15, which regularly has an enrollment of three hundred students.
Spatial Data Analysis Laboratory (1993)
Ken Belitz, Pat McHaffie, Earth Sciences Department
This project seeks to enhance undergraduate instruction that involve Geographical Information Systems (GIS). It will make computers available at three different locations (Rahr, Image Processing, and Hydrogeology labs). The PCs will be equipped to provide data analysis, display, entry, and editing capabilities. These facilities will be used in Geography 43,45, and 48, Earth Science 22, 26 and 66.
Pedagogy in Large Science Classes (1993)
Chris Jernstedt, Psychology Department
To stimulate student participation in large lecture classes, Prof. Jernstedt will design and construct a computer podium. It will connect to standard lab test apparatus and be used to gather real-time data and display it, using a combination of graphical and numerical presentation methods.
Physics Multimedia Podium (1993)
Delo Mook, Physics Department
Prof. Mook will construct a mobile podium or lectern that will permit the presentation of several kinds of media, including television, laser disk, video tape, and the contents of a Macintosh screen. This will support the "play back" of computer animations produced in the Physics department as well as student analysis of physical phenomena. Plans are to use the podium in Physics 13 and 14, and in Astronomy 1 and 2.
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