Workshops on using NIA in lecture were held at SYNAPSE (Symposium for Young Neuroscientists and Professors of the Southeast) in Charleston SC

Apr. 22, 2008 • Posted by Ann Stuart

On March 15, 2008, I offered workshops, attended primarily by faculty teaching undergraduates, on how to use NIA2 in teaching, especially in lecture. Much of the conversation focused on using NIA interactively by changing a parameter for a simulation and then asking the class to predict the outcome of the simulation before running it. Some of the workshop attendees teach very large lecture classes where the students are equipped with clickers; we discussed how students could then vote with the clicker for their choice of outcome. In smaller classes, more discussion of the possibilities could precede the simulation. I also called attention to the minimovies, which we designed for importing into lecture presentations when not enough time is available to run simulations. Attendees enjoyed the sound that accompanies the action potential minimovies and thought it would engage students.