Assessment
Challenges
•
Prior to the construction
of the CVL, a portable computer and projector were used
display images in class. Students, however, were passive
observers instead of active participants
in the learning process.
•
No facility was available
where introductory classes could meet to complete open-ended
inquiry-based activities.
•
Few campus computers contained
scientific software appropriate for advanced science and
mathematics courses.
•
Campus computer hardware
could not support the computational needs of courses such
as Bioinformatics or Numerical Methods in Physics
Solutions
•
The new facility contains
sufficient hardware that introductory classes can meet
in the laboratory . Students work in small groups
to design simple electrical circuits, examine the structure
of DNA, and study the distribution of electrons in a simple
molecule. As a result, they discover for themselves
important physical and mathematical concepts .
•
When students progress
to upper-level courses, the number and complexity of technology-based
activities increases, making computational methods a common
thread that runs through the curriculum of each department.
•
Each CVL machine is equiped
with programs such as Alchemy 2000, Mathcad, Mathematica,
and Spartan . These programs are used extensively
in advanced courses.
•
The facility provided Carthage
the infrastructure to develop new courses which teach students
the fundamentals of numerical techniques and expose them
to the use of computational tools to analyze, store, and
retrieve information.
Conclusions
•
A Computational and Visualization
Laboratory has been created and its use has been incorporated
into Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics classes
at Carthage College .
•
In the Chemistry Department,
the Physical, General, and Biochemistry courses were impacted
the most by the creation of the new facility
•
The facility allows both
introductory and advanced students to conduct open-ended
inquiry-based activities.
•
Installation of Deep Freeze
has eliminated most software problems in the laboratory.
