About

Scientific visualizations (diagrams, animations, simulations, etc) play an essential role in biology education, particularly when it comes to communicating phenomena occurring at the submicroscopic levels, where there are no observable counterparts in the real world. Visualizations can be powerful tools of intuition, playing a critical role in transforming the way students think about the scientific realm. However, a greater understanding of how the design features of dynamic visualizations support students’ understanding of complex systems is required if we are to provide pedagogically impactful experiences.

At present there exists a wide communication gap between biology educators, visualization designers, and educational researchers; each working in isolation without adequate consideration of either the context in which visualization media is used or the context for which it may have been initially developed. Identifying this gap underscores a need for greater interdisciplinary collaboration between the various stakeholders. A primary goal of this network is to establish a collaborative link between undergraduate biology instruction, scientific visualization, and educational research communities in order to better integrate craft- and research-based knowledge in instructional multimedia design in undergraduate biology education.

The long-term goals and anticipated outcomes of network interactions are to:

1. Facilitate access to and production of curricular material for biology instruction (thereby increasing learning outcomes in students)

2. Support the educational research community with the availability of higher quality research stimuli (i.e. visuals used in educational and cognitive psychology research settings)

3. Foster and sustain interdisciplinary communication and collaboration between the three stakeholder groups (through the establishment of best practice guidelines and other resources)