Brown Bag Lunch

The Learning Centre is launching its 2008 Brown Bag Lunch series! Please join us next Wednesday for our first seminar, presented by Dr. Andrew Riseman, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

• Where: MCML Room 350
• When: Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008, from noon to 1pm
• Topic: Greengenes, an inquiry-based computer simulation

In this presentation, I will describe an immersive learning environment, created by the computer simulation ‘Greengenes’, and its effects on undergraduate science students’ competence in genetics. Our hypothesis was that the simulation would serve as a cognitive framework for enhancing students’ inquiry learning in the subject matter domain of the experiments. To test this hypothesis, the simulation and experiments were integrated into a one semester plant breeding class. Twenty-six students participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests were used to assess students’ abilities to assess genetic context, develop appropriate hypothetical genetic models for the observed data, and test their hypothesis using appropriate statistical methods. Our results indicate that the use of the simulation fostered significant changes in students’ scientific reasoning about genetics, in particular, hypothesis development and testing.

Please RSVP to Duncan.

Refreshments will be served. Feel free to forward this email to any interested parties.The Brown Bag lunch series is a series of discussions, presentations and hands-on workshops about technology use for teaching, learning, research, everyday use and (hopefully) fun. The sessions are open to all. Future sessions include:

• February 13th: Deb Wilson on RefWorks (FNH 220)
• February 28th: Alan Levine on 50 ways to tell a story using Web2.0 (MCML 350)
• March 12th: Winnie Pang & Cyprien Lomas on blogging (FNH 220)
• March 26th: Tim Wang on virtual worlds (MCML 350)

I hope to see you there!