EMBER A European Multimedia Bioinformatics Educational Resource

EMBER Consortium v v University of Manchester - developer v vSIB – developer v vSANBI – developer v vCMBI – developer/evaluator v vIMB – developer/evaluator v vETI –developer* v vIGC – evaluator v vEBI – evaluator v vBEN – evaluator v vRIGEB – evaluator

Manchester Coordination   Existing on-line bioinformatics practical called BioActivity   in use world-wide   including in-house courses

Manchester Coordination   Existing text-book   in use world-wide   including in-house courses   Ch.9 is BioActivity

The Project v vEMBER will v vcollate, evaluate & amalgamate existing EMBnet materials v vrevise & update these where necessary v vUse the updated and new material to v vdevelop a new text-book v vextend the Web practical (BioActivity) v vdevelop a parallel (Web-independent) course on CD-ROM v vEMBER will be suitable for delivery v vas part of conventional face-to-face courses v vor in stand-alone, self-paced settings (e.g., the workplace)

The Beginning v v EMBER commenced on 1 May 2001 v vwill run for 2 years v vsupport 2 RA at Manchester, 1 RA (1yr) at SIB v v All we have to do now is v vcreate a professional version of BioActivity v vcreate a Web-independent version on CD-ROM v vwrite another text book…

WP1 : Review of skill shortages WP2 : Formulation of new syllabus WP3 : Material unification & assessment tools WP4 : Review of IPR WP5 : Manuscript & course revisions WP6 : Website production WP7 : CD-ROM production WP8 : Trials, evaluation & feedback WP9 : Management

May.01 Sept.01Jan.02Nov.02 Oct.02 Feb.02

The Story So Far v v With much difficulty, hired the following staff v vJane Mabey (temporarily – since 1 May) v vGiles Velarde (since 1 September) v vIoannis Selimas (since 28 August) v v WP1 - Review on skills shortage v vD1 - publication in CAL-laborate on behalf of the consortium v vhttp://science.uniserve.edu.au/pubs/callab/vol6/mabey.html v v WP2 - Formulation of new syllabus v vD2 - proposed syllabus & bookplan v vestablished a Web-site ( from which documents & project progress can be viewed

The Story So Far v v WP3 - Material unification & evaluation tools v vD3 - new sections of BioActivity being developed (to cover gene prediction, phylogenetics, structure prediction (modelling/ threading), etc.) v vD4 - Evaluation tools v v Considering 2 types of tools for: (1) evaluation of product & (2) student self-assessment. These will consider use of the products (e.g., look & feel, navigation, etc.) & knowledge gained by student (before & after assessment). Questionnaires are being designed.

ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION TOOLS General evaluation of the practical (both students & lecturers) layout, presentation of information, structure etc. (supervising of the actual sessions) (meet with the students to discuss) Assessment of the student end-of-section questions and problem solving multiple choice Before/after evaluation of the practical questions on various subjects covered by the practical - compare the two outputs feedback from lecturers Evaluation of the means to reach the target Was the product delivered successfully? FINAL PRODUCT Final adjustments Part of the CD-ROM

The Story So Far v v WP5 - Manuscript & course revisions v vD6 - Work in progress at UMan on a glossary v vother Nodes will need to deliver chapters by Christmas v v Other work: v vProActe factsheet & logo v vlogs being established for the EMBER Web site for evaluation & reporting purposes EMBER European Multimedia Bioinformatics Educational Resource European Multimedia EMBER Bioinformatics Educational Resource

What Happens Next v v Next month, ETI must begin WPs 6 & 7 v vi.e., to generate the Web- & CD-ROM-based materials to a professional standard v v While this is ongoing, evaluators must consider WP8 v vi.e., to establish courses to test the new products v v Timing is critical v vany volunteers gratefully embraced!

Other News v v UMBER just became Marie Curie training site in bioinformatics v v Fellowships available for 3-12 months v vFellows can participate in taught modules on the MSc v vOr they can undertake short research projects v v Anyone interested in having a student placed at Manchester, let me or Erich Bornberg-Bauer know