For many, one microscope slide of variable quality is called upon to provide the data necessary to produce one drawn image, upon which understanding of some underlying process is hopefully built. Digital frame grabs of microscope images allow a student to build visual libraries for comparison. Instead of a fixed-station practical exam, the student assesses her understanding with this digital portfolio. Learning to recognize a basophil on a blood smear slide is one thing, but knowing why the cell has blue granules is a very different other thing. The first part of my presentation will deal with lessons learned from ten years of digital portfolio testing.
Students take a large cardboard packing box and insert temperature recording devices into the box.
We use Vernier recording digital temperature probes. An electric light bulb is placed in the box and the box is closed. Temperature data is recorded before, during, and after the light is switched on and off for a specified time. The temperature data is arrayed into a spread sheet and then translated into a volume visualization program. The temperature data is interpolated at specific points and through time as volume animations.