This project supports the development of an undergraduate workstation laboratory that supports closed (structured classroom) use, open use, and access from remote locations over the Internet. The laboratory is being used for a new course, CIS100: Information Technology, that is giving nonmajors the tools to support lifelong learning and the use of Information Technology (IT). The proposal is based on the belief that accelerating changes in society and technology mean that the worker of the future must be an effective user of IT. The computers and networks that constitute IT are now capable of much more than numerical computation and symbolic processing. They are tools for enhanced communication and individual and cooperative problem solving. More profoundly, IT provides a basis for learning and applying mental models needed to solve problems in virtually every discipline. IT is both an agent of change and an aid in the lifelong learning required to adapt to change. The objective of the laboratory is to help make IT an essential component of the scientific and humanistic education of a broad range of students, but not CIS-majors, who are already well grounded in this technology. The hardware for the laboratory consists of 28 high-end PC workstations, a server, and auxiliary equipment (video cameras, document scanners, laser printers). The software consists of Windows NT, WWW and Notes servers, Microsoft Office Professional, and a number of packages for multimedia and advanced applications. A number of case studies developed by researchers in disciplines such as social science, chemistry, English, and engineering are being presented. Students build on these case studies, thus acquiring a feeling for the use of IT for solving real-world problems.
