Electronic or "e-texts" are the current buzz in academic publishing, but most e-texts currently on the market are essentially just scanned versions of existing texts with accompanying web pages. At SimBiotic Software we have taken a completely different tact, rethinking the textbook concept from the ground-up. With support from the National Science Foundation, we have been developing the SimUText® Active Learning System, a new learning environment that offers interactive chapters that are inquiry-driven. Sections of text are integrated with simulations and animations that provide students with instant feedback on their work and offer instructors means to monitor individual student and class progress.
Results/Conclusions
Building on our experience and codebase from our widely-used EcoBeaker simulated labs, our first collection of SimUText interactive chapters offers a dynamic replacement for the traditional Ecology textbook. This talk presents our SimUText i-chapter on the science of climate change to demonstrate how an inquiry-driven interactive textbook can teach concepts that otherwise can be dry and/or difficult to grasp. We also present preliminary data from assessments of students and professors who have used SimUText in classes over the past year, indicating that our approach is effective.