The goal of this project is to create a learning environment in which computers are used both as experimental and as instructional tools. The laboratory experiments developed 1) permit students to run virtual experiments through the use of interactive animation, 2) learn to manage and control data acquisition systems, and 3) run simulations of biological, biochemical, and biophysical events. Using Macintosh IIci computers, data acquisition hardware and LabVIEW 2, a unique graphic programming environment that can be used to develop data acquisition programs or simulations, students have the ability to devise innovative experiments directly on the computer. Students given an experimental problem can, by interacting with the computer, control the path of an animated simulation and experimentally derive solutions to the problem.
