Interactive Multimedia for Middle Grades Life Sciences

Abstract

We will develop two CD-ROM based interactive multimedia resources for middle school students based on print modules from Stanford’s Middle Grades Life Science Education Curriculum project which is funded by the national Science Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York. One multimedia title will cover the cardio-respiratory systems linking the biology of the heart and lung to disease risk and prevention. The other will focus on genetics cellular and developmental biology with applications to human gene therapy and genetic engineering. These new multimedia science education resources will extend the work supported by the U.S. Public Health Service through Stanford’s SEPA grant to develop an innovative and highly interactive multimedia resource on athe Nervous System and the Effects of Drugs and Alcohol. Faculty staff and science education graduate students in Stanford’s Program in Human Biology and School of Education along with local middle and high school science teacher consultants will continue to work in partnership with Volotta Interactive Video a multimedia design and production company in Larkspur California. Many of the structural design elements created for the first multimedia resource will be used to develop the next titles. These design features will provide a consistency in the human biology multimedia titles which will make it easier for students and for teachers to use once they have gained experience with one resource. It also will help lower the development costs for the subsequent titles.