[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-595446-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-595446-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","the-biomes-of-homewood-interactive-map-software-learning-community-software-environment","The Biomes of Homewood - Interactive Map Software - Learning community software environment","","The Biomes of Homewood presents a web-based, team collaboration environment for a 300+ student General Biology course. Johns Hopkins General Biology faculty assign student teams to campus areas and have them record and store observational data, while instructors write and distribute problem-based assignments. The interactive campus map assigns teams, supports data pooling across biomes, and lets students compare submissions across groups. Faculty and mentors review, comment, and grade work, and the platform enables question design using prior years’ data.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-biomes-of-homewood-interactive-map-software-learning-community-software-environment/595446/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-biomes-of-homewood-interactive-map-software-learning-community-software-environment/595446.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Blitz","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What problem does the Biomes of Homewood software address in a large General Biology class?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It manages the logistics of running collaborative, problem-based assignments outside class for a 300+ student course, including assignment distribution and team data collection.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How are student teams assigned and how do they use the map?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Students are placed into teams using the course management tool and randomly assigned to a campus region (a biome) represented on the interactive map.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What kinds of learning activities are students asked to complete?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Teams perform weekly or biweekly tasks applying biology concepts to real campus areas, such as identifying organisms, examining ecological effects, studying leaf structure, and surveying biodiversity within a biome.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},595446,1792209036,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":111,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":117,"preview_page_count":4},24464137899374,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","The Biomes of Homewood: Interactive Map Software  \nRichard Shingles1*, Theron Feist1, Rae Brosnan2  \n1Center for Educational Resources, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 2Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, Columbia University, 535 West 114th Street, New York, NY 10027  \n*Author for correspondence, email [shingles@jhu.edu](shingles@jhu.edu) fax 410 516-6229  \nAbstract: To build a learning community, the General Biology faculty at Johns Hopkins University conducted collaborative, problem-based learning assignments outside of class in which students are assigned to specific areas on campus, and gather and report data about their area. To overcome the logistics challenges presented by conducting such assignments in a class of 300+ students, we developed a software environment in which faculty write and distribute assignments and student teams record and store observational data. Further, the software uses amap of the campus to assign teams to a specific area and to manage the data relevant to that area. Since students can view data submitted by all teams, the faculty have devised assignments requiring students to examine and compare data from one area to another, thereby promoting interaction among the student groups. Faculty and mentors review, provide comments, and grade the assignments. The mapping feature enables faculty to develop questions that build from previous years' data. General Biology student teams in AY 2005-2006, for example, will compare reported data gathered in 2004-2005 with their current observations. Further, data can be pooled from all of the Biomes to conduct a survey across the campus.  \nIntroduction  \nThe General Biology Course Design Project seeks to transform the undergraduate educational experience in the 300+ student General Biology course by invoking a number of pedagogical and technological changes (reviewed in Fambrough et al., 2005) . This course redesign project, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and supported by talented Hopkins University faculty and staff, supports the development of educational resources to be made available to the broader science community. To reach sound design solutions to foster such an environment, the team conducted a yearlong analysis of the course. The analysis process involved gathering qualitative and quantitative data from a number of different sources: students, General Biology course, course faculty, Biology department, other universities and courses, and current and/oremerging technologies and resources. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and reviews while quantitative data were gathered through tests, surveys, and other formal reporting mechanisms (such as registration data, etc) . Based on the findings of the analysis, the faculty and project team decided to tackle the following goals:  \n1. Increase student preparedness, knowledge acquisition and retention, and participation in the course (without increasing student or faculty load), in part through computer and web-based instructional resources.  \n2) Increase student motivation and engagement with the course material (in sum, get students to enjoy the course) .  \n3) Enrich the learning experience for students by adopting rich, meaningful problem-based team assignments.  \n4) Enriching the teaching experience for faculty.  \n5) Develop a teaching framework and best practices for course redesign projects that could be applied to other large enrollment biology lecture courses.  \nThe last goal addresses issues faced at many academic institutions: implementing and sustaining solutions after the initial grant funds are exhausted. Not being able to build new buildings for labs or to hire TA’s to lead discussion groups; the team was faced with achieving the goals using existing resources.  \nMethods  \nTo achieve the goals, the team developed the Biomes of Homewood software, a web-based, team collaboration tool used ","cbCaicQFPhuIAdJr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicQFPhuIAdJr","pdf",985731,"English","# Introduction\n# Methods","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the Biomes of Homewood software address in a large General Biology class?\",\"answer\":\"It manages the logistics of running collaborative, problem-based assignments outside class for a 300+ student course, including assignment distribution and team data collection.\"},{\"question\":\"How are student teams assigned and how do they use the map?\",\"answer\":\"Students are placed into teams using the course management tool and randomly assigned to a campus region (a biome) represented on the interactive map.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of learning activities are students asked to complete?\",\"answer\":\"Teams perform weekly or biweekly tasks applying biology concepts to real campus areas, such as identifying organisms, examining ecological effects, studying leaf structure, and surveying biodiversity within a biome.\"}]","The Biomes of Homewood - Interactive Map Software - Learning community software environment | PDF",1792081158]