Biological Visualization Using Hollywood’s Tools

Program Description

In this session, Gael McGill (Director of Molecular Visualization at Harvard Medical School) will explore the use of 3-D animation to communicate scientific concepts and their potential value for undergraduate teaching.

Our insight into human health and disease is dependent on our ability to understand dynamic and increasingly complex cellular and molecular processes. Three-dimensional (3D) visualizations can be powerful tools of intuition as the need to integrate information from diverse fields becomes paramount. Although such advanced visualizations are also expected to have an impact on the ability of students to assimilate complex spatial and temporal events, little quantitative evidence exists to support this idea.

As the field of scientific animation evolves, it becomes critical not only to develop better tools for scientists and educators to communicate their work, but also to understand the impact of such visuals on students as we develop a visual  language that maximizes pedagogical outcomes. Recent efforts to facilitate both the creation and use of biological visualizations such as the Molecular Movies web portal will be discussed in relation to the broader context of visual authorship and cinematic thinking. Future plans, including educational studies and software development efforts to create an interactive “Visual Cell” teaching environment, will also be presented.

This session – part of the “Special Topics in the Sciences” series – will offer 75 minutes of interactive presentation and discussion highlighting concepts and technologies for scientific teaching, learning, and research.

Over the course of the series, participants will use multpoint interactive videoconferencing to engage experts in a range of areas, such as the design of computer animations, classroom pedagogy, simulation models, and other topics of interest. If you have questions regarding this series, or if you would like to propose a topic for presentation, please email Sean Connin (sconnin@nitle.org).

Note these sessions will draw largely from the suggestions of science faculty and staff who respond to NITLE’s on-going survey on professional development for the sciences. Topics will occasionally overlap with the Special Topics in Quantitative Analysis series also currently under development.

Registration

Please register by sending an e-mail to participate@nitle.org.

Network participant fee (early registration by October 9): $48
Network participant fee (after October 9): $50
Out-of-Network participant fee: $65

Questions

For more information about this event, including its agenda and what to expect from participation, please contact Sean Connin at sconnin@nitle.org.