The ACSE Multimedia Science Learning Environment

Advanced Computing for Science Education (ACSE) is a multimedia science learning environment. Lessons, called ACSE Volumes, serve as electronic laboratory units in a developmental biology course. Each ACSE Volume is focused on a single scientific research area. The centerpiece of each Volume is a simulation of a scientific process. In exposing the scientific essence of the simulation to students, ACSE promotes the use of a programming language to convey scientific information. Snippets of executable simulation code are interspersed with other media to form a literate lesson. The simulation is open to student modification, and experimentation is encouraged. The learner is invited to extend the central theory or pose alternative hypotheses, and then test them in the simulation. ACSE investigates whether students with one semester of computer programming experience can participate in science and communicate their results through ACSE Volumes. Early empirical results and future directions are discussed.