A Software Package for Teaching Neurobiology Through Interactive Laboratory Simulations

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Biological Sciences (61) This project continues an NSF-funded project to teach undergraduate neurobiology through interactive simulations that mimic the experience of doing actual experiments in a real wet lab. Our first effort produced a software framework that allows students to learn basic concepts by doing simulated experiments in an active exploratory way, and a small set of interactive laboratories that exercise this framework through explorations of, e.g. resting potentials, action potentials and simple neuromodulation. Here, we are undertaking major new efforts which exploit our existing software framework to: 1) teach students quantitative and analytical skills and methods in the context of data analysis and experimental design; 2) make our software and labs broadly available to students from a wide variety of backgrounds and educational environments (including non-traditional learners) through a series of interactive tutorials covering fundamental concepts and the use of our software; and 3) develop new computer-based tools for the objective assessment and graded testing of student learning. The result will be a second version of our software, incorporating major new tools for experimental design, data analysis, and testing/assessment of student learning, together with a collection of 30 fully tested interactive laboratories covering most or all of the core concepts in cellular neurobiology.