NSF Award
9451679
9451679 Haresign There are two major, interrelated objectives of this proposal: 1) To introduce and familiarize students to computer-based technology in the life sciences, and 2) To use this technology to improve laboratory instruction in three specific courses: Bioacoustics will be an introductory level course in which students will make field and laboratory recordings of acoustically active animals. The recordings will be digitized and analyzed in the time and frequency domains using custom-written software. Again, using custom software, students will be able to manipulate specific parameters of the sound, play the altered sounds back to the animals and so determine the behavioral relevance of specific acoustic parameters. Students will learn techniques and methods of science mainly through hands-on experience. In Physiology, an intermediate level course, students will use the equipment to study such diverse physiological phenomena as: extracellular multiunit activity, properties of skeletal muscle, mechanical and electrical activity of the heart, blood pressure and pulse rate, and neural responses to visual stimulation. Using the computers, students will not only acquire data, but will also analyze and display it in ways not available for data obtained with polygraphs or oscilloscopes. Experimental Neuroscience is an intensive laboratory course for upper level students. Laboratory exercises will demonstrate a number of neurophysiological concepts (electroreception, signal transduction and mechanoreceptor activity, muscle spindle properties, central visual processing) and techniques (single and multiple unit extracellular recording, level discrimination, raster displays, detailed analysis of extracellular spike activity). Students taking these courses will show improved computer literacy and an increased understanding of the concepts presented in lab exercises.
