BIOTECHNOLOGY TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCE MATERIALS

EDVOTEK CURRENTLY OFFERS A WIDE SELECTION OF EXPERIMENT MODULES IN THE AREA OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY (MOLECULAR BIOLOGY) HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF CURRENTLY EXISTING TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS, AS WELL AS THE FOCUS OF RECENT PUBLICITY FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY. ITIS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER AREAS WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY. THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE INCLUDE PROTEIN STRUCTURE AND ANALYSIS, BIOCATALYSIS, IMMUNOLOGY (ESPECIALLY MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES), FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY AND SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY. TO DATE, VERY LITTLE IN NON-MOLECULAR BIOLOGY "HANDS-ON" RESOURCES ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FOR INCORPORATION INTO THE CLASSROOM LABORATORY SETTING. THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THISPROJECT IS TO EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY AND POTENTIAL FOR ACCELERATING THE INCORPORATION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY INTO SCIENCE CURRICULA THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHICH INTEGRATE A VARIETY OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS. THESE MATERIALS, WHICH EDVOTEK PLANS TO OFFER TO TEACHERS, WILL INTEGRATE "HANDS-ON" EXPERIMENT MODULES, TEACHER INSTRUCTION GUIDES, AND VISUAL PRESENTATION MATERIALS IN THE BASIC SUB-DISCIPLINES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY.