9561624 Liu This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project involves development of an interactive multimedia educational program in a burgeoning area "Planning Genetic Engineering Experiments". The program will be stored and distributed on CD-ROM. The overall project aim is to create an interactive learning resource for college students in which the student is the experimenter, working through a complex problem that requires integration of the student's knowledge of recombinant DNA techniques and the scientific process. The software will be designed to give intelligent feedback to the user during experimentation. Background information resources (graphics, animations, photos, video clips, and simulations) will be available to fully explain each technique whenever the user needs this information. Different skill levels from introductory to advanced undergraduate will be accommodated in this multimedia format. Sufficient understanding of recombinant DNA techniques and the ability to integrate knowledge for use in problem-solving is difficult to obtain from textbooks, lectures, and from standard laboratory exercises. The interactive design of this CD allows students to go through many problems at minimal cost, make their own mistakes, receive some guidance, and gain a deeper understanding of the technique and its application. During Phase I the Videodiscovery, Inc. team of experienced educators and software engineers will develop scenarios involving molecular markers, RFLPs (restriction fragment length polymorphisms). A problem scenario is presented and once the student has devised a general approach to the question, he or she can enter the interactive laboratory. In the virtual lab, the appropriate "hot buttons" are selected to activate a technique. To carry out the procedure, specific program generated questions that require a conceptual understanding of the technique must be answered. If students are unfamiliar with a technique, or have trouble carrying out a technique, t hey can exit the laboratory field and go to a background description of the technique. The prototype will be thoroughly tested in phase I and then expanded during the next phase of the project to include problems applicable to the content in several college courses. The expanded CD-ROM will be marketed during the third phase of the project following more testing and revision. Because recombinant DNA technology is pervasive in biological research today, experiments using these techniques are described in many biology courses from introductory to specialized upper level courses. In the context of recombinant DNA in which "real labs" are impractical, the use of "virtual labs can make a significant contribution to student understanding. This type of resource has substantial commercial potential for use throughout the biology curriculum. It is anticipated that students will acquire this low cost CD-ROM as a supplement to their textbooks.
