Spring and Summer 2003 ACS-Mellon Technology Fellows

The proposals are in PDF format and you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader.

Spring 2003

Ken'ichi Ujie, Washington and Lee University (Japanese)
Fellows Program for Producing a Photo Bank in the CD-ROM format

This project is to produce a photo bank in the CD-ROM format in order to distribute copyright-free photos to Japanese teachers of the ACS-ACM-and GLCA-affiliated institutions.

Proposal
Interim Report
Final Report
Project Web Site: http://home.wlu.edu/~ujiek/avrcj.html

De Te Wu, Morehouse College (Mathematics)
Using technology to enhance teaching and learning of Numerical Analysis

This teaching research project is to investigate how to incorporate the computer technology into the teaching and learning of Numerical Analysis and to develop new instructional material to enhance the teaching of Numerical Analysis with aid of the computer technology and to assist students in learning of Numerical Analysis.

Proposal
Report

Summer 2003

Mario Belloni and Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College (Physics)
Developing Open Source Physics Curricular Material and Programs for Quantum Mechanics

We propose to develop approximately 5 new programs (applications and applets) and supporting curricular material for intermediate and advanced courses in quantum mechanics. The programs and exercises will stress visualization of advanced quantum mechanical concepts (such as two- and three-dimensional quantum mechanics) with the goal of achieving better student understanding of these concepts. The programs and curricular material will be distributed under the GNU open source model.

Proposal
Report

Malcolm Campbell and Laurie Heyer, Davidson College (Biology and Mathematics)
Genomics Tools Online

Genomics is the hottest new field in biology. Furthermore, genomics is an interdisciplinary field that includes math and computer science as well as chemistry, physics and engineering. In short, there is a growing demand by teachers and students to learn more about genomics. Laurie and I propose to develop three computer tools for students and teachers to use when learning genomics. One tool will be an online resource for phylogenetic analysis of protein or DNA sequences. The second tool will be an online tutorial explaining how DNA microarray data are analyzed and clustered. The third tool will be free software for use for real DNA microarray data analysis. Biology courses such as Genetics, Cell Biology, Development, Evolution, Ecology, Molecular Biology and Genomics could incorporate some or all of the tools we propose to develop. In addition, these tools could be used by mathematics/computer science courses such as the Computational Biology course taught by Laurie. Statistics, Java programming, and Mathematical Modeling are potential sources for further interdisciplinary use of our three proposed projects.

Proposal
Interim Report
Progress Report
Final Report
Project Web Site: http://gcat.davidson.edu/Online_Genomics/Online.html

Joseph Essid, University of Richmond (English)
Spirit of the Southern Frontier

The Spirit of the Southern Frontier Web site will provide an archive and growing scholarly resource for teachers and scholars interested in life and literature in "Old Southwest," a region ranging from western Georgia to Arkansas. As an archive, the Spirit site will contain digitized materials in the public domain from 1830-1860, when several prominent humorists were at work describing life on the frontier. As the site evolves, I plan to invite ACS faculty to contribute additional materials on an ongoing basis. Such a site might, in time, grow to include secondary work such as refereed articles.

Proposal
Course materials: http://writing2.richmond.edu/jessid/eng423/
Project Web Site: http://writing2.richmond.edu/spirit/
Project Report
Article

Susan Hagen, Birmingham-Southern College (English)
Images of the English Medieval Cathedral and City

Following the lead of Samuel Pezzillo and his "Classics Image Collection," http://csunx2.bsc.edu/CIC/, during the summer of 2003 I will begin work on an annotated database of images of medieval English cities and cathedrals. The original images will be from my own 26-year collection of slides used in teaching medieval literature. The first slides to be catalogued will be those useful in teaching texts typical of Middle English surveys and Chaucer.

Proposal
Final Report
Home Page URL: http://panther.bsc.edu/~shagen/

Ruth Sanchez Imizcoz, University of the South (Spanish)
Integrated computer help to conjugate Spanish verbs

One of the major problems our students face when learning a foreign language is learning of all the conjugations and tenses of the target language. In order to help them learn the conjugations, this program would teach them how to spell correctly all six forms for each tense in Spanish. It might be used with any language text book at different levels of the language, offering a bank of verbs from which each professor can draw according to his/her needs.

Proposal
Report
Project Web Site: http://avispa.sewanee.edu/DEMO/demo.php

John Ore, Southwestern University (Theatre)
Integrating Theatre Lighting Design software into the classroom

Two lighting design students and I will study the top lighting design visualization software applications, beginning Spring semester, 2003. Our ultimate intent is to create an online manual for other ACS lighting design teachers, and we intend to use the "chosen one" in the classroom setting next year.

Proposal
Final Report

Stacey Thornberry Blankenship, Birmingham-Southern College (Library)
GIS in the Biological and Environmental Sciences Laboratory

GIS in the Biological and Environmental Sciences Laboratory project aims to help integrate GIS into the existing science curriculum. The project will develop labs for the Biological and Environmental sciences that can be utilized without extensive training. The labs will use ESRI Arcview software. The software is readily available to most schools through ESRI corporation at little or no cost to the institution. The labs will be designed for novices, but the labs could be used as a template and customized by professors with advanced training.

Proposal
Project Report
Project Web Site: http://panther.bsc.edu/~sthornbe/ACS.htm

Matthew Weeks, Centenary College (Psychology)
Developing a Curriculum to Introduce Internet-Based Research Materials

The proliferation of the internet and the World Wide Web has opened new avenues for research in the social sciences. There are a number of resources for internet-based research available to academic institutions. Many of these resources would be appropriate for research methods courses and faculty/student research in many social science disciplines. In fact, once a web-ready project is developed, several off site locations can house and manage the administration of the study. The first step will be a web document outlining resources for internet-based research. The second step will involve the development of example applications/exercises illustrating the use of various products. These exercises will be designed for adoption for research methods or for faculty research projects. The materials developed over the course of this project will include links to the relevant resource sites, descriptions of these resources, their potential use, bibliographic reference information, and class projects introducing several of these resources.

Proposal
Progress Report
Final Report

David Wessner, Davidson College (Biology)
Improving HIV/AIDS Education: A Web Portal

Since 1981, when the first reports of the disease now known as AIDS appeared in the scientific literature, numerous scientific articles have been published about this syndrome and its causative agent, HIV. During this time, also, a wealth of news reports, visual arts, musical recordings, and movies have been produced that deal with HIV/AIDS. These news and artistic items can represent valuable tools in learning and teaching about HIV/AIDS and, as such, should be included in a comprehensive curriculum devoted to this pandemic. To further this goal, a Web portal will be developed that includes various HIV/AIDS-related sound clips, video clips, animations, and images. All of these materials will be used to teach students about HIV/AIDS and to emphasize interdisciplinary studies. Finally, such materials also could be used outside of the classroom as a means of improving public awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS.

Proposal
Progress Report
Final Report (PDF)
Project Web Sites:
HIV/AIDS pop culture site: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/aidspopculture
Living With AIDS documentary: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/livingwithaids

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