This workshop series has been
completed.
No further workshops will be offered in this series.
The last meeting (third day for the 5th group) was June 22, 1999.
Workshops initiated and funded by the host organization
may still be arranged.
The approach used in these workshops has been superceded in late 1999 by the Protein Explorer and its built-in tutorial. Nevertheless, all training documents prepared for and tested in these workshops remain available for use in 3rd party workshops or individual study. |
Supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement), and the University of Massachusetts.
Transcriptional
regulatory protein bound to DNA |
|
Chemists may be interested in other NSF-supported workshops on modeling of small molecules held in western MA at UMass/Amherst and in southeastern PA at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA. |
Familiarity with basic computer use and web browsing would be
helpful but is not necessary; no prior experience with molecular
visualization is assumed. The software runs with either Windows or
Macs. Each workshop participant will be provided a computer (Amherst: Windows
or Mac as preferred; LIU: Windows).
Training: Each participant will attend three one-day (9-5)
sessions. None of these days are consecutive, so participants will
need to travel to the workshop site on three separate occasions. The
first two days will be separated by several weeks; the
third day will be approximately one year later (see agenda below).
Use: In the academic year intervening between the second and
third sessions, each participant will be expected to use molecular
visualization as a component of teaching one or more class meetings.
Dissemination: Each participant will be asked to identify and mentor
two faculty colleagues.
Who is Eligible?
These workshops are for full-time U.S.A. college faculty (2-year or
4-year). Because of the requirement to travel to the workshop site at your own
expense, participants will be drawn primarily from the New England
states of the USA. Other teachers who apply (high school, Canadian, TA's,
part-time) will be put on a waiting list and admitted on a
space-available basis shortly before the workshop. Researchers who do not
teach are not eligible. These priorities are set by the funding program.
Note that the software and documentation needed to learn to use it are
already available at the
RasMol Classic Main Page.
Time Commitment
Faculty & Facilities
The workshops will be led by
Eric Martz, a Professor in the Department of Microbiology
(UMass, Amherst).
Martz has innovated
molecular structure tutorials which are in use throughout the USA
and in dozens of other countries. The
web site he created served two million files to
90,000 people from 90 countries during the past year.
The Amherst MA workshops will be held
in the spacious Chemistry Resource Center (CRC), equipped with networked
Windows 95/NT4 and Mac PPC (7100/80)
stations (Dr. Beatrice Botch, Director). The CRC is supported by grants
from the NSF and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Long Island U/Brooklyn workshops will be held
in a computer lab equipped with Windows 95 PC's.
Agenda
Antibody molecule
(Immunoglobulin G) |
Day 1: Exploring the RasMol Classic Main Page with Netscape. Downloading and installing RasMol and Chime from the web. Using RasMol to visualize protein and DNA structure. Finding and downloading atomic coordinate files for molecules of your choice from the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank (PDB) via the web. Viewing animated tutorials in Chime. Introduction to scripting prepared views.
Interval 1 (about 2 weeks, at home): Install RasMol and Chime on your computer. Help your mentorees with installation and introduce them to the software. Download and explore molecules of your choice. Plan uses of RasMol and/or Chime in your classes.
Day 2: With the molecule(s) of your choice, you will use RasMol to save scripts, and then install these in a Chime template for a web-based teaching presentation.
Interval 2 (about one year): Complete plans and implementation and incorporate molecular visualization into your classes. Continue training mentorees.
Day 3: Each participant will report on their teaching experiences,
what worked and what didn't work. Through discussion, the group
will arrive at strategies which are effective in a variety of
teaching contexts. Some time will be reserved for hands-on experience
with molecular visualization freeware/upgrades which became available
during the past year.
Web Site
Adenosine:Thymidine base pair from a Chime-based tutorial on DNA |
Amherst MA. Participants whose travel time exceeds two hours (80 miles, e.g. Boston) will be eligible for free overnight accommodations for the single night prior to each workshop; if your travel time exceeds five hours (~250 miles), you will also be eligible for free accommodations the night after each workshop. In calculating travel time, include 20-30 min after arrival in Amherst to find the parking garage and walk to the computer lab. The number of participants for whom accommodations can be provided is limited by budget; accommodations will be allocated first-come first-serve, and will be double-occupancy.
Long Island U/Brooklyn. These workshops are targeted
to participants residing in the NYC metropolitan area.
No overnight accomodations will be provided for participants at this
site.
Each participant comes for three separate days. All participants in
a group (about 20 people) come on the same first and last days. The
middle day is for individual projects, so the group is divided into two
subgroups (e.g. group C is divided into subgroups C1 and C2, about 10
people each). Thus within each group schedule, you have a choice of
either of two dates for the middle day.
Five workshops, A through E (20 participants per workshop),
are completed or in progress. Their locations and dates are available
on the Ongoing and Past Workshops Page.
The earliest date for a new workshop will be in spring 1999, and
locations and dates have not yet been set. These will be available
here as soon as they have been set. Meanwhile, if you are interested
in participating, contact
Eric Martz so you
can be notified by email when the locations and dates are set.
Times & Dates
All workshops will meet from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It is recommended
that you register for three dates which are all part of the same
workshop group, such as all C, or all D. However, if you have scheduling
conflicts, it is permissible to register for dates from different
groups.
Registration
You can
print a
registration form
here and now
for
Amherst MA
or
Long Island U/Brooklyn NY
, or
request a form by email from
(BE SURE YOU HAVE SET YOUR RETURN ADDRESS
IN NETSCAPE'S OPTIONS, MAIL PREFERENCES, IDENTITY BEFORE CLICKING HERE)
emartz@microbio.umass.edu
or FAX a request to 413-545-2532. Register early to reserve
a place.
Last updated October 29, 1997.
A one-page announcement designed to be printed
is also available.
Feedback to Eric Martz.
Thanks to Rashie Athukorala for help in workshop preparations, and to Manik Ahuja and Chris Finlayson for help in getting the word out to faculty throughout New England.