BioInformatics CD-ROM Primer for High School Students

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of "BioInvestigators" is to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a CD-ROM/Online bioinformatics primer that will teach high school biology students about the emerging field of bioinformatics through a series of real world case studies/mysteries that involve biological information. Each case will challenge students to collect information, run sample tests on virtual equipment, compare their data with information on widely-used databases, and logically determine the solution to the case study. The program will feature an environmental interface that consists of office spaces and a biological analysis laboratory. The goals of the project are to: teach high school students aspects of biology that are relevant to the field of bioinformatics, introduce basic procedures of bioinformatics, encourage students to consider a career in bioinformatics, teach students how to approach problems logically using the scientific method. The specific aims of the Phase I program are to: develop two interface approaches (static view and real-time 3D) and comparatively evaluate them with focus groups of high school students; develop a prototype consisting of educational materials, one case, and the preferred interface approach; evaluate the usability of the prototype with high school students, and evaluate the feasibility of the prototype with respect to meeting stated goals. The program will undergo formative evaluation during design and development. The completed prototype will be summatively evaluated in two high-school biology classrooms using a pre-/post-test format, naturalistic observation, and post-questionnaires and interviews.