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A Microbiology Office-Laboratory in Cyberspace
Dr Zev Leifer
Professor of Microbiology
New York College of Podiatric Medicine
New York, NY,
USA
Introduction
Distance learning brings educational resources to students who
may not be physically able to come to an center of learning.
It also enhances the learning opportunities of students who are
within an institution but who may be off campus at certain times
and who have a need to communicate with their instructor. Faculty
also have a need to communicate with colleagues, sometimes on
an international scale. To address each of these needs, the author
has built a microbiology office laboratory in cyberspace.
BioMOO
The environment in which this all takes place is BioMOO, a BIOlogically
specialized, Multiuser domain, Object-Oriented. BioMOO provides
text-based real-time communication and the ability to construct
and manipulate objects. BioMOO is located at http://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il:8888.
A telnet connection or a client is needed for communication and
manipulation.
The Environmental Genetics Laboratory, EGL (go 4231)
This area reflects the authors research interests, which are set
forth in the room description. It is an area for developing new
MOO objects related to that research and for meeting with colleagues
who share common interests.
The EGL Office (go west, go 3504)
This area is lushly described, so as to provide a warm and inviting
area in which to talk. This area can be used for professional
meetings. In addition, it has a role in the educational process.
The author is currently presenting a course in Bacteriology to
First Year students of Podiatric Medicine. In addition to the
usual telephone, fax and email methods of communication, the
author has made this BioMOO office availbale to the students,
so that as they study and have questions, they can meet with
the professor in his Office. The advantage is that groups of
students can meet, even if they are scattered over a wide area
geographically. And they can do it from home, at their convenience.
The EGL Library (go west, go 4600)
This area is described as a library/conference room, with table,
chairs, booksheves, screen and a view out the window. More significantly,
the author has written a book, a real, readable text, which visitors
to BioMOO can take from the shelf, read and put back. This text
is the scientific background to the laboratory experiment which
they will do in the teaching lab.
The Experiment
The laboratory work involves training in the theory and practice
of the Ames Mutagenicity Assay. This assay tests for the ability
of environmental chemicals to cause mutations in bacterial tester
strains. The assumption implicit in this work is that chemicals
which cause mutations in bacteria are likely to cause mutations
in humans and that chemicals which cause mutations in humans
are likely to be carcinogens. Many countries mandate testing
by the Ames Assay prior to the release of a new drug.
The first book: The Ames Assay
This text describes the strains, the plates, the controls and
the procecural details, including safety consideration and sterility
precautions, as if one were actually working in a lab.
The second book: MOO procedures
This text describes the particular MOO commands, in proper syntax,
so that one can pick up objects, open objects, remove and put
in, incubate and so on.
The EGL Teaching Lab (go west, go 837)
This is where it all happens. Following the theory and the MOO-instructions
learned in the library, the student goes into the lab and does
an experiment. He has a series of plates, a series of tester
strains, a series of controls and a series of unknowns. He decides
which unknown he will test, with which control, on which plate,
with which strain. He prepares plates, incubates them, counts
colonies, draws conclusions and enters data in a private lab
notebook.
Teaching aids
There are a number of sources of help along the way. Messages
come up if the student makes a wrong move, tries to do something
scientifically illegitimate or unsafe. A robot "lab assistant"
pipes up at the right moment to comment on the science or sterility
of safety concerns. The professor, live, across the hall or in
another continent, can be there while the student is working and
answer questions or guide the work.
Advantages
This system, while not the same as being there in real life, has
a number of advantages. By pre-training in this fashion, the student
can make all his/her mistakes under conditions where it doesn't
count. Since we are dealing with pathogens and carcinogens, rather
spill and contaminate here, until you master the sequence of
operations, so as to reduce errors when the real lab work is
done. Similarly, one can anticipate a financial savings, since
the waste that is part of any learning process, is made onscreen
and not for real. The student can repeat the process as often
as he wants, without the usual limitation of a supplies budget.
A student at a poor college or a poor country can have access
to "equipment" not available where he is, and walk
through a complex procedure, almost as if there. Distance learning
- the ability to have a lab experience even if homebound due
to geography or medical disability or lack of time or funds to
attend the institution.
Conclusion
Here is a system with many features mimicking a modern academic
facility. It is a place for professional colleagues to meet and
collaborate. It is a place for students to confer with the instructor.
It is a learning environment, both for new knowledge and for "hands-on"
training in laboratory theory and technique. It is a model how
the power of the MOO environment and online education can combine
to enhance the learning process.
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