Dougald G. Scott DUE 9551905 Cabrillo College FY1995 $ 43,283 Aptos, CA 950033119 ILI - Instrumentation Project: Life Sciences Title: Human Physiology Laboratory improved through cooperative learning Declining resources, outdated equipment, and under prepared students are problems facing many institutions across the country, including Cabrillo College. These problems have contributed to students in Human Physiology laboratories becoming observers, rather than active participants in laboratory experiments. The goal of this project is to provide more investigative and cooperative learning experiences for students by: 1) restructuring the curriculum to foster inquiry and teamwork; and 2) equipping them with computer controlled data acquisition technology. Students are learning science and critical thinking by actively participating in hands-on laboratory exercises, working in small groups to gather data, using computers to analyze the data, and discussing and presenting their findings. Computer workstations with accompanying data acquisition hardware and software, and a computer network are being employed to accomplish these goals. In restructuring the curriculum to include the new equipment, care is being taken to design a user-friendly environment that encourages teamwork and active learning, especially for under prepared students lacking a technological background. A thorough critique of this project and the results of its evaluation will be presented and published nationally.
