New computer program makes science classrooms virtual
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A high school student in biology class moves the stage up on a microscope to better view a sample. The coarse adjustment knob was turned to far and the slide cracks. The student may have to start over, but it is all part of the learning process of science. But for some students in schools too poor to afford science equipment such as microscopes, this scenario may be more virtual than reality.
(PressZoom) - COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A high school student in biology class moves the stage up on a microscope to better view a sample. The coarse adjustment knob was turned to far and the slide cracks. The student may have to start over, but it is all part of the learning process of science.
But for some students in schools too poor to afford science equipment such as microscopes, this scenario may be more virtual than reality.
Dr. Kenith Meissner, assistant professor, and Dr. Charles Lessard, associate professor, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, have made the first step in creating a virtual world that will enable many high school students in Texas and throughout the country to experience a lab environment with microscopes and other instruments.
Texas A&M researchers generated a computer program that would simulate the use of two instruments, a virtual microscope and spectrophotometer, an instrument used to measure the absorbance of light in a certain sample.
Combining industry, non-profit and academia, this project features a collaboration between National Instruments in Austin, Laying the Foundation in Dallas, the University of Texas Southwestern and Texas A&M University.
Meissner heads the project at Texas A&M which has produced two virtual instruments, a microscope and a spectrophotometer. When the project began, Texas A&M was given the freedom to design the look and operation of the program. The group developed the concept for a program that simulates the look and feel a real instrument.
The microscope must be operated as if it were real. The operator must turn it on, adjust the light, move the slide and fine-tune the focus so the slide can be viewed properly.
These programs will provide an optimal simulation and a complement to standard instrumentation, Meissner said.
Today, there is some virtual instrumentation on the Web. However, this instrumentation can only provide limited views. With this new program, there is also an emphasis on learning about the instruments as well as viewing.
"It's not just `point and click,'" Meissner said.
This program requires the student to fully understand the instrument operation. When using the spectrophotometer, for example, the cuvettes — the small tubes used to hold the sample being analyzed — need to be cleaned before use to obtain the correct reading. And because today's students have grown up with strong backgrounds in computers and playing computer games, students adapted to the use of virtual instrumentation really well, Meissner said.
The microscope and spectrophotometer are just the first two instruments in a series of instruments for high school science classes. These two are completed already, but development of a thermal cycler and "gel box" is already in motion. These will simulate the separation of DNA fragments to show DNA matches, similar to what one might see on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
At present, the science lab infrastructure in secondary education isn't always there to facilitate AP education, Meissner said. This virtual instrumentation will start at high schools in rural and urban schools that suffer from underfunding. The hope is that it will eventually be utilized in middle schools as well.
"Virtual instrumentation provides a way that we can facilitate building an infrastructure to enable science education at high school and middle school levels," Meissner said.
National Instruments, a leader in virtual instrumentation located in Austin, has given permission for the program to be distributed for free so that every school will have the opportunity to utilize this new program. The distribution date is set to be some time in July 2008.
With the summer release, the program will only be in the first stages of its full potential. The program and initial lesson plans will be mailed out to science teachers in underfunded schools, but Meissner said the plan is to make the instruments and supporting materials available through the Web.
"The overarching idea is to form a center for virtual instrumentation in education in which there are Web-based resources for teachers and students," Meissner said.
These resources range from fully edited lesson plans to more samples for use with the instruments. The collaborators also hope to create an online user community in order to facilitate growth in virtual instrument use.
Although the program has started in Texas and the initial lesson plans will be specific to Texas AP biology classes, distribution of the virtual instrumentation software will be nationwide.
The program has been previewed in several teacher workshops in Dallas. An early version of the program was also demonstrated to AP biology students at Bryan High School.
"The response is overwhelmingly positive from those that do have instrumentation and those that don't," Meissner said.
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