Visions: Volunetric Imaging Science

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) application is to evaluate the feasibility of adapting an advanced technology employed in biomedical research and practice-volumetric image processing and analysis (VIPA)-for science and mathematics education in formal secondary school settings. The project, entitled Volumetric Imaging for Science Instruction of an Open Nature (VISION), will produce a CD-ROM-based multimedia lesson-"Noodling Neurons"-for use in middle schools, high schools, and informal science education centers. The lesson will be based on neuron microanatomy visualization research being conducted by Dr. Joseph Szurszewski, Department of Physiology, Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with the Biomedical Imaging Resource department of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota (BIR). The lesson will introduce the learner to neuron microanatomy in an engaging manner, provide an online tool that allows the learner to explore the topic by conducting a basic science experiment with VIPA, analyze data gathered during the experiment, and understand the results. The lesson will also serve as a prototype for a full set of CD-ROM-based materials that will include ten multimedia lessons. The full set of lessons will be developed with funding from a Phase II STTR grant. The adaptation of VIPA for educational purposes will be conducted by Science-Approach, a for-profit corporation. Science-Approach will work in cooperation with the Center for Image Processing in Education (CIPE), a nonprofit research institution located in Tucson, Arizona, and BIR. Science-Approach will create the educational materials in collaboration with CIPE. BIR will adapt its commercially available VIPA software-Analyze-for use in the proposed multimedia materials and provide data for use in the proposed lesson. The VISION project will help create a bridge between comfortable uses of technology in educational settings to less comfortable but infinitely more rewarding and educationally beneficial practices. The project hopes to create instructional materials that will nurture educators to become opinion leaders and "bleeding-edge" innovators in their field, creating a foundation for reform of the uses of computer technology in education.