This project provides computing equipment and software for a biology computer laboratory. Mississippi College has been successful in modernizing and enhancing the curricula in biology to include modern methods of analysis for both classroom and laboratory instruction as well as independent student research. Our goal has been and is to provide the means for student interrogation of systems under investigation. The computer laboratory complements our existing facilities for an investigative biology curriculum by allowing for modern methods of computer data analysis and imaging capabilities. Our main objectives when incorporating the computer laboratory into the curriculum are to replace less powerful and more time consuming and manual methods of data analysis with more powerful and less time consuming computer-assisted methods of data analysis, and to use imaging capabilities to investigate phenomena that cannot be investigated through any other means. These objectives are achieved by using a network of general purpose mlcrocomputers in a computer laboratory. Software, including general purpose analytical and simulation software networked computers, allows for detailed monitoring of student use, including a detailed and accurate determination of the relationships between academic performance and use for both specialized applications and the facility in general. The inclusion of modern methods of data analysis in our curricula results in graduates who have an enhanced capacity to understand the nature of modem scientific data. Simulations of systems that cannot otherwise be investigated allow us to expose students to aspects of biological sciences that are currently beyond our capabilities.
