699.W Internet Teaching of Microbiology

This course meets in room 260 Bachelor Hall from 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-5:00 Monday-Friday from July 28 through August 8, 2003.

Course Outline

July 28

• Introduction and Overview 
  • Survey of participants' computer use and needs
  • Selection of microbiology concepts for discussion
• Computer, browser and web basics 
  • Navigation and bookmarks
  • Designing, creating and publishing web documents
  • Tools for use in generating web pages and web sites
• Demonstration of interactive learning modules
• Creating HTML documents 
  • Starting a home page
  • Using headings and address tags
  • Inserting paragraphs and breaks
  • Trying it out in your home page

July 29

• Browsing the web - search strategies vs. just surfin' 
  • Finding microbiology content
  • Capturing and using bookmarks as resources
• Principles of web page authoring and layout - substance, then style 
  • Formatting text 
    • Logical vs. physical formatting
    • Specialized tags and attributes
    • Fonts and spacing of text
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
  • Organizing information 
    • Ordered, unordered, definition and nested lists
    • Links and anchors within a document
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
• Microbiology concepts and teaching strategies

July 30

• Principles of web page authoring and layout - Images and styling 
  • Including Images
    • Creating vs. capturing and importing Images and animations
    • Organizing Images and using them as links
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
  • Enhancing HTML documents
    • Using color in backgrounds and fonts
    • Background Images, banners and horizontal rules
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
• Microbiology concepts and teaching strategies

July 31

• Principles of web page authoring and layout - tables and external links 
  • Including tables
    • Organizing data in tables
    • Captions, line breaks, empty cells, spanning columns or rows
    • Borders, padding, alignment and sizing
    • Using tables as design and organizational elements
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
  • Linking to external elements
    • Local vs. remote document links
    • Links to Images, videos and sounds
    • Browsing the web for examples
    • Trying it out in your home page
• Microbiology concepts and teaching strategies

August 1

• Principles of interaction via hypermedia ... e-mail vs. forms
  • Using electronic mail to get and answer questions
  • Creating forms to gather information and questions
  • Posting information to FAQs pages
  • Browsing the web for examples
  • Trying it out in your home page
• Work out details of concepts for web site learning modules
• Begin generation of concept maps and web site plans
• Problem solving

August 4

• Principles of web site authoring and layout
• Browsing the web for ideas, examples and teaching resources
• Finish generation and analysis of concept maps and web site plans
• Begin development of interactive learning modules
• Problem solving

August 5

• Principles of web site authoring and layout
• Browsing the web for ideas, examples and teaching resources
• Development of interactive learning modules
• Problem solving

August 6

• Principles of web site authoring and layout
• Browsing the web for ideas, examples and teaching resources
• Development of interactive learning modules
• Problem solving

August 7

• Using web browsers as presentation tools
• Complete development of interactive learning modules
• Compilation and posting of home pages
• Presentation and discussion of individual home pages
• Compilation and posting of learning module web sites
• Problem solving

August 8

• Presentation and discussion of learning module web sites
• Compilation and posting of final versions of interactive learning modules
• Evaluation of the course and instructor

Objectives

The objective of this two-week, three credit-hour workshop is to enhance teaching of microbiology in high school biology courses by providing up to twelve teachers with the knowledge and skill to utilize the Internet to introduce microbiology into their classes. This workshop will cover use of web page development tools to generate web sites to convey course information to students in novel ways and interact with them using computers. It will also cover use of browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer to find microbiology information relevant to biology courses. This workshop will emphasize discussion of web sites generated and learning strategies developed so workshop participants can utilize them for their biology courses. Prerequisites: Introductory microbiology course and eagerness to use computers in biology teaching; some computer expertise is helpful.

During this workshop, we will work in cooperative groups to generate a web site that includes:

• Master home page
• Course participants' page
• Individual web sites for each workshop participant ... including: 
  • Course syllabus
  • Lecture outlines
  • Study guides
  • Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages
  • Etc.
• Group-generated microbiology learning module web sites ... including: 
  • Learning module home page
  • Content pages for each group participant

Instructors

The instructional team that will guide your learning during this workshop will be:

John R. Stevenson Workshop Director p. Helen Stevenson Computer Graphics and Web Page Layout Consultant

Evaluation

• Mastery of HTML to present textual content, graphics and animation via interactive web pages (20%)
• Development of concept maps and web site plans (20%)
• Generation of an effective (well-organized, interesting, creative, user-friendly, accurate, informative) interactive web site (50%)
• Presentation of your web site to other workshop participants (10%)

Additional Reading

• "Teaching on the Web and in the Studio Classroom." Richard J. Bazillion and Connie Braun. Syllabus, April 1998, p. 37-39.
• "Extending Your Biology Classroom with The World Wide Web." Thomas M. Terry. Strategies, Winter 1998, p. 1-4.
• "A Practical Guide to Teaching with the World Wide Web." Susan Polyson, Steven Saltzberg and Robert Godwin-Jones. Syllabus, September 1996, p. 12, 14, 16.
• "Internet Pitfalls: What Not to do When Communicating with Students on the Internet." Judith V. Boettcher. Syllabus, November/December 1997, p. 46, 50, 52.
• "The World Wide Web as an Instructional Tool." John M. Barrie and David E. Presti. Science, October 1996, p. 371-372.
• "Internet Resources in Biology." Martin P. Courtois and Alan H. Goslen. College and Research Libraries News, July/August 1996, p. 431-433.
• "Evaluating Internet Research." Lillian B. Wehmeyer. Syllabus, September 1997, p. 46-50.
• "How Did I Miss That? The Education Professional's Guide to Search Strategies." Lillian B. Wehmeyer. Syllabus, March 1998, p. 22, 24, 52-53.
• "Web Sites by Design: How to Avoid a "Pile of Pages." Roy Tennant. Syllabus, August 1997, p. 49-50.
• "Instant Home Page." Gregory Wasson. MacUser, September 1996, p. 99-100.
• "Refining Web Pages: Effective Design Strategies for Educators." Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton. Syllabus, February 1998, p. 39-43.
• "Typography in Web Pages." Sarah Horton and Patrick J. Lynch. Syllabus, March 1998, p. 42-43, 55.
• "A Web Graphics Primer." Lynda Weinman. MacWorld, May 1998, p. 72.
• "Animating Your Web Site." Jim Heid. MacWorld, September 1996, p. 171-173.
• "Polishing Your Page." Tonya Engst. MacUser, February 1997, p. 101-102, 103.
• "The Site and Sound of MIDI." Jim Heid. MacWorld, March 1997, p. 147-149.

Reference Books

• Working The Web: A Student's Guide. Carol L. Clark. 1997. Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
• Web Sites That Work. Roger Black. 1997. Adobe Press.
• Dan Gookin's Web Wambooli. Dan Gookin. 1997. Peachpit Press.
• Net Research: Finding Information Online. Daniel J. Barrett. 1997. Songline Studios, Inc. and O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
• The Internet Resource Directory for K-12 Teachers and Librarians, 96/97 Edition. Elizabeth B. Miller. 1997. Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
• Creating Cool HTML 4 Web Pages. Dave Taylor. 1998. IDG Books Worldwide.
• The Non-Designer's Web Book: An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing. Robin Williams. 1997. Peachpit Press.
• Creating Great Web Graphics. Laurie McCanna. 1997. Mis Press.
• Creating Dynamic Web Sites: A Webmaster's Guide to Interactive Multimedia. Scott Fisher. 1997. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Computer).
• HTML Publishing on the Internet. Brent D. Helsop. 1998. Ventana Press.
• Publish it on the Web! Bryan Pfaffenberger. 1998. AP Professional.

Other Resources

• Educorp CD-ROM 8.0 - public domain resource for audio "sound bites"
• Sound Library 2000 CD ROM - public domain resource for audio "sound bites"