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CD-ROM Teaches Cell Biology With Lab Simulation That Lets Students Create Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Disease, Cancer By Ascribe, 6/18/2001 14:37 CLAREMONT, Calif., June 18 (AScribe News) -- A new CD-ROM uses goal-based learning and the hot topic of stem cells to teach the biology of the cell cycle. ''StemLab, an Environment for Learning,'' lets students set their own pace and make their own educational choices to learn about how cells divide, grow, and change. The students learn by way of a multimedia simulation, in which they apply stem cell research to create therapies for different medical problems. The CD-ROM is offered by the Mona Group http://www.monagroup.com Development of the CD was funded by a $136,000 grant, entitled ''Enhanced Learning Through Goal-Based Multimedia,'' from the National Science Foundation to Harvey Mudd College. The CD is suitable for use 'in introductory biology, cell biology, genetics, and cancer biology courses, as well as in high school biology (especially AP biology). ''The principle behind this CD is that students learn best when their learning is goal-based,'' said Bill Purves, professor of biology emeritus at Harvey Mudd College and the director of the project. ''So we put them in the position of being a newly hired investigator for StemLab, a leading (but fictitious) research institution, and assigning them different tasks applying stem cells to medical conditions.'' Students can choose to work on three different medical conditions: heart attacks, leukemia, and testicular cancer. As they try to figure out to apply stems cells to cure and rebuild the body, students can fill in the blanks in their knowledge by looking up background information on cell biology. Mitosis, meiosis, and the cell cycle are presented in detail, and there is an extensive review of eukaryotic cell structure. The CD uses hypertext links, similar to those on a web browser, to direct the student to text with pronunciation guide, more than 300 illustrations, and more than 90 animations. These answer such questions as what is a stem cell, how do they divide, how do they become specialized, and what happens when they don't. ''Students learn as they go and master knowledge when they need it,'' said Purves. Harvey Mudd College is a coeducational institution of engineering, science, and mathematics that also places strong emphasis on humanities and the social sciences. The college's aim is to graduate engineers and scientists sensitive to the impact of their work on society. HMC ranks among the nation's leading schools in percentage of graduates who earn Ph.D. degrees. It is the pioneer of the internationally known Clinic Program, established in 1963. Harvey Mudd College is a member of The Claremont Colleges Consortium, the first consortium of colleges in the United States, which offers students the expansive physical facilities and wide selection of courses, faculty, student services and extracurricular activities of a university, and the small classes and personalized education of a small private college. The Consortium includes Pomona College (established in 1887), Claremont Graduate University (1925), Scripps College (1926), Claremont McKenna College (1946), Harvey Mudd College (1955), Pitzer College (1963), and the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science (1997). http://www.boston.com/dailynews/169/ascribe/_CD_ROM_Teaches_Cell_Biology_W:.shtml *********** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn