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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Gallery of Educational Innovation

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Justin Riley & STAR BioChem

Visualization and Simulation

From bringing research tools into the classroom to animating complex physical processes for aiding student discovery -- visualization and simulation tools are central to rendering the abstract more concrete to promote deeper understanding and experiential learning.  This is accomplished through adapting and customizing existing commercial technologies or where necessary through developing visualization tools in-house.

MIT supports a variety of educational visualization tools including some in which OEIT is directly engaged. The projects and resources in this areas are:

Violeta Ivanova

ARTEMiS combines the principles of visual communication with the tools of modern computer graphics. The visualizations enhance teaching and learning in mathematics, science, and engineering.

Jesus del Alamo
Steve Lerman

Online laboratories (“iLabs”) are experimental systems that can be accessed through the Internet from a regular web browser. iLabs allow students and educators in science and engineering to carry out experiments from anywhere at any time.

Haynes Miller

A suite of Java applets was created for use as lecture demonstrations and homework assignments. The applets can be used directly or in modified form in downstream courses, enhancing transfer.

Dava Newman

What physical movements should an astronaut make in micro-gravity in order to re-orient her body? With the help of visualizations designed by Violeta Ivanova, Dava Newman's students tackled this question.

Elizabeth Wood

This digital timeline shows connections among a range of social groups experiencing the complex upheavals of the Russian Revolution. Student-generated data populates the timeline with links to student's research and analysis.

Graham Walker
John Belcher

StarBiochem is an application that displays molecules from the Protein Data Bank. It allows users to explore fundamental biological research concepts, target and select components of a molecule, and control how they are displayed.

Eric Lander

StarBiogene provides a set of software tools for analyzing genomics data via the web. It enables the user to take part in the analysis of microarray gene expression data by making usable genomics research software readily available.

Chris Kaiser

StarGenetics provides a set of tools for analyzing genetic traits. This software simulates mating experiments between organisms that are genetically different across a range of traits and allows students to analyze the nature of the traits in question.

Rafael Bras

StarHydro provides a set of software tools for working with concepts of fluvial geomorphology.

The StarMolsim tool allows students to learn the concepts of good design and safe structural engineering through hands-on simulations.

Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Building NE48-308, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
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