Exploring Life on the World Wide Web: The Digital Dissemination of Biological Research
This course is designed for aspiring life scientists and science teachers. It will improve students’ literacy in the areas of life science data management, information technology, and the effective exchange of scientific information across disciplines and professional cultures. The goal of the class is to provide students with hands-on experience in the discovery, management, and application of life science information in a digital environment.
Image of giraffe © 1996 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian.
Students will get an overview of relevant electronic resources, including an in depth introduction to the Tree of Life Web Project, a digital library managed by the instructors. The course will cover important conceptual and technical issues relating to electronic publishing and the building of digital libraries. Students will conduct projects in the areas of web programming, interface design, or digital content development (scientific content or curriculum-related resources).
Instructors
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Topics
Here's a preliminary list of issues we are planning to address. The coverage of topics may be customized according to students' interests.
- Introduction to the Tree of Life Web Project: A Digital Library of Biodiversity Information
- Overview of Online Resources about Organismal Biology
- Management of Biological Images and Other Media
- Intellectual Property Issues (Text, Media, Software)
- Approaches to Quality Control in Digital Libraries of Scientific Materials
- Applications in Inquiry-Based Teaching: Using Biological Data in the
Classroom
- Building Online Communities of Experts, Teachers, and Learners
- Introduction to Web Technology: XHTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, PHP
- General Principles of User Interface Design
- Database Design and Information Architecture
- Data Sharing and Communication between Databases
Course Methodology
Instructors will provide an introduction to each topic through lectures, presentations, and electronic class readings. Students will then elaborate on this material by participating in discussions, by conducting computer lab exercises, and by applying the knowledge acquired in the design and execution of their group and individual projects.
Instructors will provide electronic access to course readings and online tools for the completion of projects. It will be the responsibility of the students to find additional literature and tools relevant to their projects. Students will be provided with 3 hours per week of computer lab time, and they will be required to arrange their own computer facilities for additional work on individual and group projects.
Required/Recommended Knowledge
Permission of an instructor is required to take this course. Students should have basic knowledge of major biological concepts. Students will also be expected to be competent using a web browser, and they will need to be able to use email as a means of communication.
Grading Policy
Grades for the course will be obtained from the following items:
| Undergraduate Students | Graduate Students | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quizzes | 10 | 5 | ||
| Exercises/short reports | 20 | 10 | ||
| Individual Projects | - | 20 | ||
| Individual Project Presentation | - | 10 | ||
| Contribution to group projects | 40 | 30 | ||
| Group project presentation | 20 | 15 | ||
| Participation in class discussions | 10 | 10 | ||
| 100 | % | 100 | % |
Assignment/Testing Schedule
Students are expected to read assigned papers and participate in discussions about class topics. Exercises or short reports will be assigned for some topics, and there will be occasional short, announced quizzes to test students’ knowledge of materials covered in class.
Each graduate student will design and conduct an individual project relevant to the class topics. Individual projects can be practical (developing online content, software, or interfaces) or theoretical (analyses of issues relevant to course topics). Both graduate and undergraduate students will participate in group projects involving contributions to the Tree of Life Web Project in the areas of web programming, interface design, or content development (scientific content or curriculum-related resources).
In week 3, students will give short oral proposals for the design of their group (10-15 min) and individual projects (4-8 min). In week 9, students will report on the progress of their projects. At the end of term, a symposium will be held during which students will orally present the results of their projects, as well as hand in a final report, written in the style of a scientific paper. This report should be maximum 5 single-spaced pages for individual projects, 8 single-spaced pages for group projects. It should outline the nature of the project, its design and implementation, intended audience, potential uses, and suggestions/plans for future development.
Attendance Policy
Attendance at class meetings is mandatory. Late work will be penalized by deducting 3% of the total grade available for that work per day late, unless arrangements are made in advance with an instructor.