UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 14
December 12, 1996
Biology computer simulations

     Larry Curtis, parallel program, Georgetown, uses computer
simulations to increase the amount of class material students
retain in Elementary Evolutionary Ecology Lab.
     Using a variety of commercially available and home-grown
programs, Curtis gives his students ecological data to analyze
that simulates live data that would "take decades or centuries to
collect in the field."
     Using computers allows Curtis' students to run simulations
in population growth, competition and evolutionary theory,
exposing them to hands-on analysis of data, which reinforces the
concepts they hear in lecture sessions.
     "In every case, the idea is to have the students do
experiments on the computer, so they can see how changing
different parameters
     affects the ecological outcomes. These experiments would be
prohibitively time-consuming if we were to do them 'live,'"
Curtis said.
     Curtis said he believes the alternative would be to conduct
only one experiment over the course of the semester. He pointed
out that using multiple computer simulations over the semester
helps students with important intellectual skills that carry over
into other fields of study. "They get some real data they can
analyze. They can ask questions and then see the answer as they
change the parameters. It's important to have them draw
conclusions from the data. I don't want them to parrot the data
back to me. I ask them: 'What does it mean?  What trends do you
see?'"
     Robert Hodson, biology, uses simulations of fruit fly
genetics from the Virtual Fly Lab at California State University
at Los Angeles, published by Peregrine Publishers,
(http://www.biology.com/). He gives "virtual genetics"
experiments to both his honors and regular sections of
Introduction to Biology.
     "They go out over the Web, cross flies with the desired
genetic traits and see what happens," he said.
     He is able to give both "knowledge-based" and "analysis-
based" assignments: "I can ask them to do a cross and report back
what happened, or I can ask them to cross two flies and then ask
what we should try next to explore a concept."
     According to Hodson, the virtual lab is not a replacement
for a real fly lab.
     "The students should have the experience of doing hands-on
genetics experiments; and, in fact, they will in an upper-level
course.
     But, the Virtual Lab does allow them a quick, efficient,
introductory, experience with genetics of recessive, dominant and
linked traits," he said.
     "It's a quick way for them to generate some data and draw
some first conclusions."