An Imaging Roadmap for Biology Education: From Nanoparticles to Whole Organisms

• Published in: CBE life sciences education Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 202 - 209
• Main Authors: Kelley, Daniel J, Davidson, Richard J, Nelson, David L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Cell Biology 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Achievement Gains; Achievement Rating; Active Learning; Biology; Biology - education; Classroom Techniques; Curriculum; Diagnostic Imaging; Formative Evaluation; Interdisciplinary Approach; Introductory Courses; Learning; Medicine; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology - education; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Radiology; Science Process Skills; Scientific Concepts; Summative Evaluation; Teaching; Teaching Methods; United States; Universities; United States
• ISSN: 1931-7913; 1931-7913
• DOI: 10.1187/cbe.07-10-0094

Imaging techniques provide ways of knowing structure and function in biology at different scales. The multidisciplinary nature and rapid advancement of imaging sciences requires imaging education to begin early in the biology curriculum. Guided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap initiatives, we incorporated a nanoimaging, molecular imaging, and medical imaging teaching unit into three 1-h class periods of an introductory course on ways of knowing biology. Activities were derived from NIH Roadmap initiatives in nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, and nuclear medicine. The course materials we describe contributed positively to student learning gains in quantifying and interpreting images, in characterizing imaging methods that provide ways of knowing biological structure and function, and in understanding scale in biology and imaging. The NIH Roadmap provides a useful context to educate students about the multidisciplinary imaging continuum. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)