If you look at cells using time-lapse microscopy, you will see that they literally pulse and seeth with activity. Some of this activity is external, as cells crawl around in response to various signals. But much of the activity is internal, and this is much harder to imagine. The inside of the cell is a hugely complicated architectural system, supported by the giant (in cellular terms) girders of the cytoskeletal meshwork. Along this meshwork zip all types of proteins carrying packages around the cell; the cytoskeleton is a three-dimensional highway and delivery system, as well as providing structural support for the cell. It is also constantly assembled, dissassembled, rearranged, and rebuilt. However, if you ask students "What does the cytoskeleton do?" they will tell you "It supports the cell". If you press for more, you will find that most students view the cytoskeleton as being much like the steel girders in a skyscraper: rigid, strong, and unchanging, i.e. boring.
The dynamic nature of cells is not, therefore, well represented by still pictures, and students often struggle to imagine the proper movements. This problem can be addressed through the use of animations. Animations are useful not only for depicting dynamic processes, but also for deconstructing complex interactions, with various participants appearing as needed. This can be particularly useful when the animations are interactive, forcing students to anticipate the next step. I plan on developing animations for several of my classes, particularly immunology, introductory cell biology, and cellular metabolism.
Along with my colleague Peggy Richey, I recently received a small grant ($830) from Centre College to fund the purchase of Macromedia Flash, an animation program, and Adobe Illustrator, for designing graphics. This grant does not provide any stipend for carrying out this work. The grant also has enabled us to invite a Flash specialist to campus to run a one-day workshop to get us up and running on developing Flash animations. Flash animations have several advantages: (1) they are web based, for easy dissemination, (2) they are widely used, so people should be able to access them easily, and (3) they can be interactive. I have already done one very simple animation of the type I have planned (available at http://web.centre.edu/dews/flash_pages/cover_page.htm) and do not anticipate any technical problems in carrying out this project.
I also do not anticipate any problems with having time to do this project. Although I am proposing a fall term fellowship, I have, by an accident of scheduling, a very light load this fall. I have had a similar load this spring and have had plenty of time available for working on computer projects. A fall term fellowship will allow me to complete animations for immunology and cell biology before I teach them in the spring of 2001. While there is no way that I will complete all of the animations that I would like to do in only one semester, I should be able to get a substantial amount done and can then continue to work on them in the summer of 2001.
My previous work on helping student to "see" the unseen, supported both by the ACS and by Centre College, has focused on visualizing actual molecules. This work has been highly successful, leading to a presentation at the ACS Technology Center opening symposium, a workshop this summer at the technology center, and a presentation accepted for the American Chemical Society's Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. This current proposal is not a repetition of the previous work. The Flash animations will focus primarily on cellular processes, not molecular structure. In addition, I am already aware of the work that Malcolm Campbell at Davidson has done in immunology (also with Flash animations) and that Mark Sutherland has done at Hendrix. This work will not repeat what they have already done. In fact, Malcolm and I have been in correspondence and will hopefully be able to collaborate on a more complete set of animations for immunology. We would both be interested in perhaps running a Flash animation workshop at the ACS technology center sometime in the future.
Student evaluation of the molecular visualization work that I have done has been extremely positive. In anonymous evaluations, they consistantly comment on how much it helps them understand the structure and function of molecules. I have gotten similar positive feedback on other animations that I have used in class. I anticipate that students will find the animations that I develop equally useful, and I will again rely on anonymous evaluations to gather that feedback.