Bioinformatics in Motion
Steffen Heber, NCSU
Leif Saul, CU-Boulder
Overview
• Background about Animations
• The Bioinformatics in Motion Project
• Conclusions and Future Developments
Educational Animations are Popular!
Algorithm animation in Computer Science
Other Life Science Animations
• Biology in motion [http://biologyinmotion.com/]
• Biology Animation Library
[http://www.dnalc.org/ddnalc/resources/animations.html]
• HHMI’s Biointeractive – Virtual Labs
[http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/vlabs/]
• Science Animations, Movies & Interactive Tutorial Links
[http://science.nhmccd.edu/BioL/animatio.htm]
• Geospiza, Inc. Education [http://www.geospiza.com/outreach/]
• Virtual Cell Animation Collection
[http://vcell.ndsu.nodak.edu/animations/]
• DNA Microarray Methodology – Flash Animation
[http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/genomics/chip/chip.html]
• Also, often used in software demos, tutorials, and webinars
Common Knowledge?
Educational Animations can …
• directly show changes in form, position,
and time
• increase student interest and motivation
• help students to understand and remember
information
Student Response
Do you feel that algorithm visualization/animation
helped you to learn how algorithms work?
• “I used them to study for the final”
• “yes, to practice how the algorithm
works”
• “it helped me to understand, and
stay awake”
• “they helped to make the lecture
interesting”
• “fun stuff!”
• “probably not, too time consuming”
Positive answer
25
Indifferent
1
Negative answer
1
Did not respond
2
Are Animations Effective?
Just watching does not improve learning
How We Learn from Animations
• Two main information
processing channels:
visual and auditory
• Learning = active
processing in memory
• Limited capacity for
info processing
What Makes a “Good” Animation?
Use research based design principles:
• Present animation and narration
simultaneously
• Avoid identical streams of printed and
spoken words
• Use narration in conversational style
• Focus on interactive activities
Bioinformatics in Motion
Develop Flash Animation Modules for
undergraduate students. Topics:
• Sequence Alignment
• Motif Finding/Discovery
• Database Search: BLAST
• Genome Rearrangements
• Fragment Assembly
• Hidden Markov Models
Animations: http://statgen.ncsu.edu/slse/animations/
Workflow
1. Text storyboard
– Illustrated with static Flash images
– Images developed into animations
A similar approach as used by PIXAR
Why Flash?
• Flash - Benefits include:
–
–
–
–
Small file size
Plug-in widely distributed
Object-oriented programming (Actionscript 3)
Visual authoring tools
• Animated programmatically
– Static images placed on stage
– Transitions encoded in XML
– Animations generated at runtime
Project Features
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Static images
Cartoons / metaphors
Animations
Spoken narration
Interactivity
User controls delivery
Instructor controls delivery
Project Features
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Static images
Cartoons / metaphors
Animations
Spoken narration
Interactivity
User controls delivery
Instructor controls delivery
Other resources
User Controls Delivery
• Playback controls
• Voice vs. text narration
• “Liquid” interface adjusts to screen
size
• User feedback
Please send us feedback!
Types of Animation Used
•
•
•
•
Changes in size, position, etc.
Cartoons / metaphors
Visual effects / enhancements
Computed
Types of Interactivity Used
• Quiz
• Exploration / experiment
• Game-like (user seeks an optimum)
Some Design Dilemmas
• Continuous “movie” vs. chunks?
– Movie: Inviting, easy experience
– Chunks: User can choose
• How much narration per step?
– Too much: User less in control
– Too little: User gets “click” fatigue
Conclusions: Animations …
• are fun!
– they increase attention and enthusiasm
• address different learning styles
• support teachers, distance education &
independent student learning
• work best if interactive
• in Flash are time-consuming to develop
Future Areas of Development
• What material is best taught via
animations?
• How to package and integrate animations
into class/html documents?
• Can animations adapt to different
student needs?
Acknowledgments
Benjamin Wheeler, NCSU
Questions?
Animations: http://statgen.ncsu.edu/slse/animations/