Methods
Several steps will be required to establish the web-based tool for the recognition of anuran vocalizations. First, calls of all anuran species found in the Southeastern United States will be acquired. I have already recorded many of these in high-quality analog format (i.e., cassette tape). Calls not yet recorded will be recorded with a Sony Minidisc Digital Recorder or solicited from colleagues at other institutions (e.g., Cornell Library of Natural Sounds). Second, photographs of all anuran species in the southeastern United States will be obtained and scanned at an appropriate resolution. I have personal photographs of many species and others that I need will be obtained from colleagues (i.e., North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences). Third, a web site will be developed that provides a photograph of each species, important natural history characteristics of each species, and a link to its call or calls. Fourth, an interactive quiz section will be provided in which students can listen to calls of species in their region and fill in their best guess for each species identification. This quiz will be designed using WebAssign Software. As part of the quiz, students will be provided not only with individual calls of particular species, but with choruses in which several species are calling simultaneously. Feedback from Web Assign quizzes will allow students to evaluate immediately their mastery of the material.
How will this approach enhance teaching and/or student learning? 
A web-based tool for of the recognition of anuran vocalizations will enhance teaching for two of my courses and will potentially be used in other courses here at Davidson College. I teach Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Herpetological Investigations. Both of these courses require students to be familiar with field identification of frogs and toads, especially their calls. This web-based teaching system will be available to multiple users simultaneously, at all hours, from anywhere with web access, and will provide an excellent method to acquire anuran call identification skills. (Students at Davidson have internet access from their dorm rooms, in addition to the many computer labs located on campus.) The Web Assign quizzes will allow me to evaluate students progress but the real test will be when I take students into the field. Additionally, our Vertebrate Field Zoology course, taught by Dr. Mark Stanback, takes several field trips where identification of vertebrates is emphasized. The web site will be available to Dr. Stanback's students.
This web site will have open access to anyone that wishes to use it and will be valuable to faculty at other ACS institutions that teach courses stressing field identification of animals (i.e., vertebrate zoology, herpetology, etc.). Additionally, many natural resource managers and personnel (e.g., state parks, Nature Conservancy, etc.) will find the site useful in their work.

What Technical Expertise Will Be Sought from ASC Institutions?
Fortunately, all expertise necessary for this project is found in either the biology or physics departments at Davidson College. I have expertise in anuran identification in the United States, especially by call. I have also conducted a considerable amount of audio digitization for testing audible surveying devices. Additionally, I have some expertise in web design (Dorcas home page: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Biology/midorcas/dorcas_home.htm). Dr. Wolfgang Christian, a physics professor at Davidson College, has expertise using Web Assign as does Dr. Malcolm Campbell in Biology. All server space, computer time, supplies, recording and digitizing equipment is already in place in the Biology Department at Davidson College.

How/When Will the Project be Integrated into the Curriculum and How Will Its Effectiveness be Assessed.
As stated above, this web site will be used in at least two, and probably three courses at Davidson College. Students in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Herpetological Investigations will use this site to become proficient at identification of local anuran species. Additionally, Vertebrate Field Zoology students will potentially use this site as a tool for learning identification of local anurans. Students in my classes will begin using the web site the next time these courses are offered (e.g., Spring semester of 2001).
Assessment of the effectiveness of this site will be evaluated in two ways. First, results of Web Assign quizes will provide me with an effective tool for easily monitoring student's progress. However, the real test will be when students are taken into the field. Students will be taken at night into the field locally and at other sites (e.g., the Savannah River Site, SC) and will be field tested to determine the effectiveness of the web site as a teaching tool.

How Will the Results of this Project be Shared with Colleagues at Other ACS Institutions.
Because this will be a web site open to anyone with internet access, it will be available to anyone wishing to learn auditory identification techniques of anurans of the Southeast. Once the site is established, I will provide faculty at other institutions the opportunity to link to the site in addition to the link provided by the ACS Technology Program web site. Links from conservation and herpetological associations will also be established and advertised wherever possible. In the future, other regional modules (e.g., Northeastern United States) can be added to the web site.