Spring and Summer 2002 ACS-Mellon Technology Fellows

[Spring 2002] [Summer 2002]

Spring 2002

G. Reid Bishop, Millsaps College (Chemistry)
Bioinformatics for Undergraduates: Development of a Virtual Laboratory

Unfortunately, traditional chemistry and biology curricula do not suitably address the statistical and computational tools and techniques used for the analysis of biochemical databases such as those based at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and available on-line at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. In short, there is a critical and immediate need for students trained in the newly emerging sciences of chemical and biological informatics. Funding from ACS will be utilized to complete the development of a laboratory-based course in Chemical and Biological Informatics designed to address the concepts and practice of molecular modeling and structure and sequence analysis. I will attend training sessions on the use of the various bioinformatic tools available on-line at the NIH and on the use of the chemical and biological informatics software package, Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) distributed by Chemical Computing Group (CCG), Inc. (www.chemcomp.com). Students involved in the course will explore various publicly available databases and analyze the results in the context of the latest bioinformatics approaches. Such an experience will certainly be beneficial to students interested in pursuing computational biology and chemistry at any level.

Proposal

Dan Boye, Davidson College (Physics)
Interactive Measurement Visualization for Windows Media Player

New curricular material will be developed to capitalize on students' innate interest in computers and music that examines the connections between music, science and technology. Currently available time and frequency domain visualization plugins for popular media players (Windows Media Player, WinAmp), while imaginative and colorful, do not lend themselves to scientific measurement. New measurement-friendly visualization plugins will be developed for Windows Media Player. A series of exercises and associated sound files also will be produced. All materials will be available for free distribution.

Proposal
Project Report (PDF)

Marc C. Conner, Washington and Lee (English)
Irish Literary Studies at Washington and Lee: A Web Portal

Since teaching my first seminar on Modern Irish Literature in 1998, I have created a vigorous program in Irish Literary Studies at Washington and Lee, a program that is meeting with tremendous interest and enthusiasm on the part of our students. In the spring of 2000, I took twelve Washington and Lee students to Ireland for an intensive six-week study of Irish literature, history, and culture. I am now planning a second semester abroad to Ireland, and already have nearly thirty interested students. A major part of my work in this area has focused on web-based teaching technologies. The ACS Technology grant will aid in my teaching and research interests in Irish literature, and help me continue an ambitious web portal project devoted to Irish literary studies.
While in Ireland I shot nearly 800 slides of important Irish sites, ranging from prehistoric dolmen burial tombs to early Christian abbeys, monasteries, and priories; from medieval castles to 19th-century famine villages; from breathtaking vistas of the Irish landscape to detailed images associated with the major Irish poets, writers, and dramatists. This past year I have scanned these slides into TIFF and JPG files, and incorporated these images into a searchable database that allows one to search by keyword throughout the 800 images. From this substantial "Images of Ireland" database, I am working to produce a wide range of teaching applications, including image galleries, an interactive cartography, travel log, and a home base for Irish Studies that have far-reaching effects for a number of classes that I teach.

Proposal
Project Report (PDF)
Project URL: http://ireland.wlu.edu/index.html

Michael Harrison, University of Richmond (Environmental Studies)
Developing a Comprehensive, Low-Cost, Transportable Remote Sensing Curriculum

This project will develop a comprehensive, high quality remote sensing curriculum that can be used by a variety of programs and schools with minimal expense, using a series of pre-packaged lessons and publicly available data sets acquired from the U.S. Geological Survey. The resulting courseware could be easily modified by instructors with advanced training, or could be used on an "as is" basis by teachings with little formal training in remote sensing techniques. The courseware will utilize the MultiSpec software system developed by Purdue University, which is freely available to academic institutions.

Proposal

M. Padraig McLoughlin, Morehouse College (Mathematics)
Creation of a Web Based Text and Instructional Materials for an Introductory Principles of Mathematics Course

At Morehouse College the first theoretical mathematics course the student takes in a mathematics major or minor is, The Principles of Mathematics, Math 180. The course is an introductory exposition to theoretical mathematics in which the student is introduced to logic, predicate calculus, axiomatics, basic sets, combinatorics, probability, statistics, and linear algebra. A central component of this course is the presentation of the many fields of mathematics through the lens of logic and proof. In this project, the author is using an ACS Teaching with Technology Fellowship to support the development of a web-based text, workbook, and for the course. An integrated approach to introductory theoretical mathematics is envisioned. The web text will be readily available for students' use. The web workbook will be interactive, will contain appropriate exercises, and suggest further reading that concepts are reinforced and a curious student may study a subject more in depth.

Proposal

Chuang Peng, Morehouse College (Mathematics)
Teaching Calculus with Technology

The project is to build an on-line learning system for calculus students,
including on-line tutoring, self testing and electronic testing. The schema of the project primarily has four components: initial log-in; material review; self testing and on-line testing. The project will be built on a database management (by ORACLE) which contains a problem bank in its database and stores all the data from users for instructor's use. The problem bank includes problems such as testing understanding of concepts, solving equations and working on word problems. Only students with appropriate authorization can use the system. The system will provide a dynamic, interactive and graphical user interface to explain the concepts. For testing the system will randomly take problems from its bank according to the instructions given by instructor.

Proposal
Report (PDF)

Jimmie M. Purser, Millsaps College (Chemistry & Computer Science)
Modeling, Simulation, and Data Visualization in the Sciences

I will be on sabbatical from Millsaps College in the Spring of 2002. My sabbatical will focus on modeling, simulation, and data visualization in the Sciences. In particular, it will focus on the PC Spartan package distributed by WaveFunction, ArcView Software for data visualization, and Environmental simulation software to be specified later. The expected outcome of my sabbatical will be materials to be integrated into the sciences' curricula at Millsaps College and other ACS institutions.

Proposal
Project Report (PDF)

Mark E. Rush, Washington and Lee (Politics) and John Blackburn, Washington and Lee (Instructional Technology)
GIS Applications in Politics: Redistricting and Beyond

This project entails the augmentation of a pilot course first administered last year in which we introduced students to GIS technology using the Virginia redistricting process as a hands-on project. We will expand the course in several directions this year. First, by converting the course from a server-based to a workstation-based offering, we will be able to the use a much more powerful redistricting program and more detailed, block-level 2000 US Census data. Second, we will provide additional instruction regarding online data acquisition and conversion that will allow the students to undertake more sophisticated, partisan analysis of redistricting plans. Finally, we will place student projects on an internet map server, using ESRI ArcIMS, to allow public access to the students' work.

Proposal
Report
Project Home Page: http://itl.wlu.edu/gis/redistw02/index.html

Therese Shelton, Southwestern University (Mathematics)
Interactive Projects for Mathematical Modeling for a General Audience

The project will produce a collection of Excel and Mathematica modules for use in a low-level mathematical modeling course, designed to appeal to a broad audience. National Council for Teachers of Mathematics 2000 Standards will be implemented in the design of the modules.

Proposal
Report
Project URL: http://www.southwestern.edu/~shelton/ACS/Modeling/

Rachel Wagner, Hendrix College (Religion)
World Religions Portal Project

The World Religions Portal will provide introductory students with an easy reference tool for the study of world religious traditions. The Portal will provide introductions to each of seven major religious traditions, with links to audio, visual, and textual supplements, including in particular select primary texts in the traditions. The site will also offer a chat room for discussion of pertinent religious issues, giving students a means to integrate what they are learning in class with their own lives. This feature will also provide students with a means to interact with students from other classes dealing with similar issues, or even other students at ACS schools that also choose to utilize the Portal. The integration of links to audio and visual material will enhance and deepen classroom learning. The many interactive features of the Portal will enable students to integrate classroom learning with their own interests, giving them an easier means to navigate the wealth of information on religious study on the web, in an environment that insures the reliability and quality of that information.

Summer 2002

Mario Belloni, Davidson College (Physics), Larry Cain, Davidson College (Physics) and Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College (Physics)
Using Physlets and Just-in-Time Teaching in Quantum Mechanics

We propose to create an instructor's handbook to accompany the materials we have already created (available on the web at http://webphysics.davidson.edu/qmbook/) in support of a one-semester, intermediate course in quantum mechanics. The interactive curricular material uses the Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) technique and Physlets to actively engage students outside of the classroom to improve their in-class experience. During the summer of 2001, we developed forty-five such JiTT exercises, which stress the visualization of quantum mechanical concepts with the goal of achieving better student understanding of these concepts. We can further enhance the effectiveness of the exercises by developing a more thorough discussion of the exercises for instructors. Enhancing how instructors use the material enhances instruction.

Proposal
Project Report [PDF Format]

Karen Bernd, Davidson College (Biology)
Providing Connections: Resources for Cell Biology

Providing connections between different scientific concepts and between scientific theory and the everyday activities of a college student can be difficult. Each, however, is a worthy goal as educators endeavor to engage and challenge the minds of their students. Basic scientific concepts provide the foundation for more complex interactions and though them the cumulative nature of scientific discovery unfolds. Connections between 'book learning' and life give the science relevance and promote understanding and retention. I have sought to reach these goals in Cell Biology (Bio308) by using a case study format where we discuss cell biology by comparing what 'usually happens' and what 'went wrong' in each condition. The idea of forming a hypothesis, testing a hypothesis and, often, rejecting a hypothesis are intertwined as the students work through the logical guesses involved in determining the molecular basis of a disorder. Student evaluations have suggested valid changes for the early incarnations of this work. During the summer of 2002, I propose to develop a web site to enhance the case study approach. The site will include: a) links from the syllabus to specific sections that include introductory material and interactive study questions (using the Blackboard portal system); b) pre- and post- lab quizzes that will reinforce preparation and data analysis skills; c) PDF formatted versions of the study guide material (from a), and d) a list of URLs providing background and current research specific to each case study.

Proposal
Final Report (PDF Format)

Alan S. McRae, Washington and Lee (Mathematics)
A New Perspective on Geometry: A Proposal to Develop a Web-Based Series of Independent Study Courses in Geometry

The purpose of this project, a portion of which is near completion, is tomake publicly available a comprehensive series of web sites fordiscovery-based, interactive courses on geometry. The courses would bemodular in design to facilitate ease of use by faculty worldwide. They willbe offered here at W&L as part of our independent study program in moderngeometry, allowing the student to choose those branches of geometry ofgreatest interest to her. Among its aims are: to exercise the student inthe visualization of mathematical concepts, to present a unified view ofclassical and modern geometry, to develop and exercise problem-solvingabilities, and to give the student a sense of the unity of mathematics byrelating geometry to other fields, both in and outside of pure mathematics.

Proposal
Report

Eileen Moore, Birmingham-Southern College (Education)
Using HyperStudio for Content Delivery

Birmingham-Southern College offers a major in Elementary/Collaborative certification which allows a graduate to work with children with special needs in an inclusive classroom, a resource room, or a residential center. The Education faculty is searching for ways to deliver more content through technology. This grant will be used to design two HyperStudio comprehensive plans for autism and orthopedically impaired/multiple disabilities. These two HyperStudio program stacks would introduce the area of study at the knowledge level. They would precede a field experience in settings for each of these areas of special needs. These HyperStudios are meant to serve as models for other education faculty and perservice teachers. The desire is for college students to become accustomed to using HyperStudio as a teaching/learning tool and be more comfortable creating with it and knowing how it fits into a classroom. The programs would be available on CD at the request of an ACS colleague and would be a part of the project's web page.

Proposal
Report
Home Page URL: http://panther.bsc.edu/~emoore/ACS.htm

John R. Swallow, Davidson College (Mathematics)
Renovating the Mathematics Curriculum: Exemplary Galois Theory

The proposer will complete the technology portion of an ongoing project: the creation of a course in undergraduate Galois theory. The course will bring abstraction and computation together in the service of learning an important mathematical discipline, one which is taught most often at the graduate level. Specifically, the ACS grant will support the design of packages in two computer algebra systems, Mathematica and Maple, and these packages will be designed to enable students at a variety of institutions to calculate examples of Galois field extensions---all but the simplest of which reach a high degree of complexity---with relative ease. The larger book project involves several ACS mathematics faculty in the review and evaluation of both the text and the associated technology materials; the course has a natural place in the mathematics curricula of 13 members of the ACS.
Comments and criticisms received will be addressed in the final version of the project.

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