Biology Student Workbench:
An Inquiry-Based Learning Environment
for Pre-Service Teacher Education
Overview
The Biology Student Workbench (http://peptide.ncsa.uiuc.edu/)
project is uniquely positioned to address the education
reform recommendations for both inquiry-based educational
experiences and the integration of effective pedagogy and
information technology into undergraduate education. The
project plan is to develop, implement, and disseminate a
model curriculum for pre-service teacher education through
the use of information technology to support realistic
scientific inquiry.
Current Partners
Description
Biology is increasingly becoming an
“information-driven” science. Biological
research involves constructing meaning using the vast amounts
of information compiled from experiments in the laboratory
and observations in the field. The application of
information technology to molecular biology research is
evolving into a new discipline,
bioinformatics.
Biology Workbench, a bioinformatics tool, provides access
to biological databases and analysis tools through a web
browser. Biology Student Workbench is a growing
collection of education enhancements to the Biology Workbench
including, tutorials, inquiry-based laboratories and resource
materials, all of which help high school students and teachers
and to conduct open-ended investigations in molecular biology.
The project specifically addresses a pre-service teacher audience,
and it supports the use of the inquiry-based learning and teaching
approach to science education. The project objectives are
to:
- Develop inquiry-based bioinformatics curricula in
collaboration and cooperation with the faculty and students
in the teacher certification programs.
- Integrate the curricula into science and math methods
courses.
- Disseminate the curricula nationwide.
The project team includes faculty and students with
expertise in bioinformatics, biology, evaluation,
inquiry-based learning and teaching, instructional design,
science education, and teacher education.
Timeline
The project tentative timeline is as follows:
Year 1- September 1, 2000 to August 31, 2001
To design and develop inquiry-based bioinformatics
instructional curricula for pre-service teacher education in
collaboration and cooperation with the faculty and students
of the Teacher Certification Programs at Beloit College.
Year 2- September 1, 2001 to August 31, 2002
To integrate (i.e., implement and evaluate) the curricula
into the elementary and secondary science and math methods
courses in fall and spring semesters at Beloit, and to begin
planning the integration of the curricula into the pre-service
science education curriculum at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
Year 3- September 1, 2002 to August 31, 2003
To continue integrating the bioinformatics curricula into
courses (i.e., sustain), and to disseminate the curricula
nationwide through the BioQUEST Library, as well as through
workshops conducted during the three-year project grant
period.
The project team welcomes collaborations and partnerships
from all educators and scientists. For further
information about the project, please contact any one of the
individuals listed below.
Contacts
Dr. Umesh Thakkar, Principal Investigator
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
152 Computing Applications Building
605 East Springfield Avenue
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217-333-2095
Fax: 217-244-1987
E-mail: uthakkar@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Dr. Bertram C. Bruce, Co-Principal Investigator
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Bioengineering Program
501 East Daniel St., MC 493, Room 314
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217-244-3576
Fax: 217-244-3302
E-mail: chip@uiuc.edu
Samuel S. Donovan, Co-Principal Investigator
Department of Biology
BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
700 College Street
Beloit College
Beloit, WI 53511
Phone: 608-363-2012
Fax: 608-363-2052
E-mail: donovans@beloit.edu
Dr. Kathleen Greene, Co-Principal Investigator
Department of Education
Department of Chemistry
Beloit College
700 College Street
Beloit, WI 53511
Phone: 608-363-2340
Fax: 608-363-2194
E-mail: greene@beloit.edu
Dr. Eric Jakobsson, Co-Principal Investigator
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
405 North Matthews Avenue, Room 4021
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: 217-244-2896
Fax: 217-244-2909
E-mail: jake@ncsa.uiuc.edu
