ERIC Number: EJ975785
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-May
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-7685
EISSN: N/A
A Bioinformatics Module for Use in an Introductory Biology Laboratory
Alaie, Adrienne; Teller, Virginia; Qiu, Wei-gang
American Biology Teacher, v74 n5 p318-322 May 2012
Since biomedical science has become increasingly data-intensive, acquisition of computational and quantitative skills by science students has become more important. For non-science students, an introduction to biomedical databases and their applications promotes the development of a scientifically literate population. Because typical college introductory biology laboratories do not include experiences of this type, we present a bioinformatics module that can easily be included in a 90-minute session of a biology course for both majors and non-majors. Students completing this computational, inquiry-based module observed the value of computer-assisted analysis. The module gave students an understanding of how to read files in a biological database (GenBank) and how to use a software tool (BLAST) to mine the database.
Descriptors: Majors (Students), Laboratories, Biomedicine, Biology, Databases, Science Education, Introductory Courses, Computation, Inquiry, Computer Software, Data Analysis, College Students, College Science, Computer Uses in Education
University of California Press. 2000 Center Street Suite 303, Berkeley, CA 94704. Tel: 510-643-7154; Fax: 510-642-9917; e-mail: customerservice@ucpressjournals.com; Web site: http://www.ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=abt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A