This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of an interdisciplinary graduate training program in Cognitive, Computational, and Systems Neuroscience at Washington University in Saint Louis. Understanding how the brain works under normal circumstances and how it fails are among the most important problems in science. The purpose of this program is to train a new generation of systems-level neuroscientists who will combine experimental and computational approaches from the fields of psychology, neurobiology, and engineering to study brain function in unique ways. Students will participate in a five-course core curriculum that provides a broad base of knowledge in each of the core disciplines, and culminates in a pair of highly integrative and interactive courses that emphasize critical thinking and analysis skills, as well as practical skills for developing interdisciplinary research projects. This program also includes workshops aimed at developing the personal and professional skills that students need to become successful independent investigators and educators, as well as outreach programs aimed at communicating the goals and promise of integrative neuroscience to the general public. This training program will be tightly coupled to a new research focus involving neuro-imaging in nonhuman primates. By building upon existing strengths at Washington University, this research and training initiative will provide critical new insights into how the non-invasive measurements of brain function that are available in humans (e.g. from functional MRI) are related to the underlying activity patterns in neuronal circuits of the brain. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kurt ThoroughmanGregory DeAngelisRandy BucknerSteven PetersenDora Angelaki
This article introduces a study on the websites of several European public research institutions that aims at identifying the science communication model chosen and implemented online with the purpose of reaching different target publics. The analytical approach takes into account a number of indicators: from the institutional identity to the scientific features, from the interactive services to the internationalisation level, in order to evaluate whether the web provides an added value in the adopted communication model and in building a relation with the users. Lights and shades emerge from
There is a growing commitment within science centres and museums to deploy computer-based exhibits to enhance participation and engage visitors with socio-scientific issues. As yet however, we have little understanding of the interaction and communication that arises with and around these forms of exhibits, and the extent to which they do indeed facilitate engagement. In this paper, we examine the use of novel computer-based exhibits to explore how people, both alone and with others, interact with and around installations. The data are drawn from video-based field studies of the conduct and
In this paper we discuss our approach to designing two public exhibitions, where our goal has been that of facilitating and supporting visitors' own contributions to the exhibits. The approach behind our work sees the role of technology that is supporting people's experiences of heritage as moving away from delivery of information, and towards enabling visitors to create the content of the exhibit. This approach is aimed at encouraging active reflection, discussion and appropriation, in the tradition of human-centred interaction design. In the paper we present two installations, "Re-Tracing
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Luigina CiolfiLiam BannonMikael Fernstrom
NSF's Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century Discovery is presented in a set of interrelated chapters that describe the various challenges and opportunities in the complementary areas that make up cyberinfrastructure: computing systems, data, information resources, networking, digitally enabled-sensors, instruments, virtual organizations, and observatories, along with an interoperable suite of software services and tools. This technology is complemented by the interdisciplinary teams of professionals that are responsible for its development, deployment and its use in transformative
This project is designed to improve communication between scientists and the public focusing on the role of evidence in science. It is a two-year project that includes: 1) implementing a national survey on the public use of science web sites; 2) conducting a national Science Education Outreach Forum bringing together scientists and informal science educators; 3) implementing workshop sessions at a national conference to disseminate lessons learned from the survey and Forum; and 4) developing a prototype website on the role of evidence that will be evaluated for audience engagement and understanding. This project builds on the Exploratorium's prior NSF-funded project (ESI#9980619) developing innovative strategies using the Internet to link scientists and the public using Webcasts, annotated datasets and interactive web resources. Project collaborators include the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Palmer Station, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, FermiLab and the Society of Hispanic Physicists among others. The research and evaluation of the project has the potential for strategic impact by providing new information and models on how science centers can more effectively use the Internet to improve communication between scientists and the public while engaging learners more effectively.
This project continues the development, testing, and use of a series of web-based computer simulations for improving the teaching and learning of physics. It expands the number of simulations in physics, creates new simulations addressing introductory chemistry, creates simulations addressing the conceptual understanding of equations in solving science problems, and further refines some existing simulations. It increases, by approximately 35, the 35 online interactive simulations that have been developed for teaching physics. The project produces and widely disseminates on-line supporting materials for use in undergraduate and high school science courses. The supporting materials include: guided-discovery, tutorial worksheets; a list of learning goals; materials to support in-lecture, homework, and laboratory use; assessment instruments; and other user-contributed materials. The simulations being introduced and their effectiveness are being evaluated in at least eight additional courses in physics and chemistry at the University of Colorado and a diverse set of partner institutions. The materials are being extensively tested to ensure that they are easy to use and effective at promoting deep conceptual understanding and positive attitudes about science and technology.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carl WiemanNoah FinkelsteinKatherine Perkins