MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

WE WILL DEVELOP A DIGITAL MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR HOME USE WHICH WILL ENHANCE INTEREST AND KNOWLEDGE IN MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY FOR HIGH SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A PROTOTYPE ICE (INTERACTIVE CELLULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA). THIS PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE DISTINGUISHED FROM OTHER EFFORTS IN THAT IT WILL INTEGRATE THE MOST RECENT SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AND PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS IN BOTH THE COST OF THE HARDWARE NEEDED TO RUN THE SOFTWARE AS WELL AS THE LOWER COST OF UPDATING AND DUPLICATING THE SOFTWARE. IN ADDITION, THIS HARDWARE/SOFTWARE COMBINATION WILL PROVIDE STATE-OF-ART COMPUTER ANIMATION CAPABILITIES WHICH WILL BE IDEAL FOR REPRESENTING DYNAMIC CELLULAR PROCESSES. WE WILL UTILIZE CUTTING-EDGE IMAGING MODALITIES, SUCH AS CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY TO ILLUSTRATE CELLULAR STRUCTURE. OUR PREVIOUS RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF MINORITY SCIENCE EDUCATION WILL GUIDE THESE EFFORTS. IF FEASIBILITY CAN BE ESTABLISHED IN PHASE I, WE WILL, IN PHASE II DEVELOP A MARKETABLE SOFTWARE PRODUCT FOR EDUCATING STUDENTS ABOUT MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY USING THE PHILIPS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS COMPANY'S COMPACT DISK INTERACTIVE (CD-I) AND NINTENDO SUPER NES CD ROM TECHNOLOGY WHICH PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISSEMINATE THIS SOFTWARE TO A WIDE AUDIENCE.