James D. Spain

The SUMIT: Courseware Development Project

James D. Spain James D. Spain is the director of the Center for Instructional Computing, Eastem Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. After graduating in chemistry from Michigan Technological University, he received the M.S. degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Ph.D. from Stanford University. He has served the past 22 years in the Biological Sciences Department at Michigan Tech, six years as its department head. Recently, he has directed the SUMIT Courseware Development Project and is author of the text BASIC Microcomputer Models in Biology.

The BSCS and Educational Computing in the Sciences

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) is a not-for-profit {501(c)(3)} educational research and development institution whose purpose is the advancement of scientific literacy and education in the life sciences. During the past 27 years, the BSCS has virtually revolutionized the teaching of biology by developing educational materials used by more than 50 percent of the school districts in the United States, and in more than 60 countries in adaptations in 25 languages. The BSCS has developed almost 700 pieces of educational materials, including textbooks, laboratory manuals, subject-specific modules, films, documentaries for public television, and more recently, materials for educational computing in the sciences. The BSCS has undertaken study of the uses of microcomputers in science teaching; already several projects in educational computing in the sciences are either underway or in the planning stages. There are many barriers to achieving the potential benefits of educational computing. Those barriers are found within the system of educational computing detailed by Crovello (1983)-people, software and hardware.