Geniverse
Summary
The Geniverse project will determine the feasibility of engaging students in experimental bioinformatics and DNA science by developing and studying computer-based materials that could be used in high school biology courses and widely disseminated.
Project collaborators (Concord Consortium, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), Jackson Labs, and Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) will develop cyberlearning modules and an integrated virtual laboratory environment for use in this research. The materials will explicitly support conceptual biology learning and foster open-ended, collaborative problem solving. Rich biological models will undergird all aspects of the environment, and the experimental methods of modern DNA science and bioinformatics will be applied to these models in an environment fostering student exploration. The Geniquest modules and laboratory will relate core concepts in pre-college genetics to important experimental methods in current use in biological research: activities and investigations will simulate these methods accurately and appropriately. Geniquest activities and investigations will provide motivation and context by using model genetics of various real and mythical organisms popularized for over a decade by the Concord Consortium’s genetics modeling software. The project will emphasize the importance of in-depth and ongoing professional development in the use of its curriculum elements, and will study its adoption and implementation within existing curricula. The project will investigate whether the proposed materials convey a deeper understanding of the experimental basis of modern genetics and what aspects of the materials influence the findings.
Program Contact(s)
Partners and Collaborators
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to Concord Consortium. MMSA is a major subcontractor
Dates: 2009-2014
