2003 Projects

These are the projects proposed by the faculty members at the individual sites. The lists will be updated periodically as more projects suggestions arrive. The project descriptions from last year are available so you can get a sense of the range and types of projects available.

Students with a basic background in mechanics and good computer programming skills are sought to develop web-based materials for an entry-level course in biomechanics. Students will have the opportunity to use VaNTH's Courseware Authoring and Packaging Environment (CAPE) to develop online homework sets, construct modules for a vector tutorial, and/or develop problems for a web-based Free Body Diagram Assistant

We have been developing an educational tool for biotechnology containing a set of challenges/objectives that would associate with the How People Learn (HPL) framework. We are closely working with students, learning scientists, technology, domain and assessment experts here at Northwestern University, Biomedical Engineering Department. An extensive preliminary work has been carried out and the first version of the module has been tested in Bioprocess Technology Class in Fall 2001 and 2002 to teach microbial kinetics and downstream processes. The educational module has different activities/challenges with varying complexity. As an undergraduate student, your task will be to work with faculty to analyze assessment data collected during Fall 2001 and 2002, refine the materials that define the learning sequences for these specific challenges, introduce an ethics component to the module and upload the material to a website. Biotechnology background and html experience would be helpful.

We are developing a new module for tissue engineering centered on gene transfer. The module will contain a set of challenges/objectives that would associate with the How People Learn (HPL) framework. Collaborating with learning scientists and assessment experts here at NU is an essential component of the educational module development. As an undergraduate student, your task will be to work with faculty to identify/develop materials that define the learning sequences for these specific challenges. This will include but is not limited to literature survey, developing/revising the challenge statement, and participating in the design and implementation of this module. Furthermore, there will be considerable opportunities to develop assessment tools and code for the assessment data collected earlier throughout the years and help upload the results to a website. Possessing a tissue engineering background and html experience would be a big plus.

To develop instructional materials for an introductory undergraduate neural systems physiology course. The specific aim is to develop an HPL-type module to be used to provide an introduction to the neural motor system. The module would be intended to occupy a 2-week time span and run at the end of the course; i.e., students would be expected to have a basic understanding of the nervous system and the electrical properties of neurons. Candidates: BME or neuroscience student between junior and senior years.

Successful science and engineering professionals must be aware of and sensitive to the professional standards and ethical values inherent in the practice of research. These professional standards and values reflect both the mores of the scientific community (e.g., allocation of credit, responsibility of authors) and of society as a whole (e.g., the humane treatment of research subjects). This information is not generally explicitly taught as part of the research process and the community has become aware of the need to address the responsible conduct of research explicitly. The ethics domain of the VaNTH ERC is assisting and facilitating faculty at the Consortium schools with the integration of ethical considerations into the curriculum of existing and new subjects.