HARVEY PROJECT

What is the Harvey Project? Why the Name? Philosophy History Harvey Project FAQ Organization Project Administration Examples Development Area Bulletin Board Communication Peek at our new Web Site

• Developing web-based materials for an introductory-level human physiology class
• A collaboration among colleagues in physiology, medicine and related disciplines, across universities, communicating primarily via email.
• A demonstration project to develop paradigms, procedures, standards and software that can be reused for teaching other sciences.
• Developed materials will be suitable to accompany a lecture, for students to review on their own, or to serve as an "electronic textbook."
• Developed materials are in the public domain, including all source (Perl, Java, etc.). We will create a license agreement similar to the Gnu Public License.
• Nothing proprietary. No commercial software included unless source code and permission to distribute are given. No commercial or proprietary images without permission to distribute.

back to top

Sir William Harvey, physician to King Charles I, was a famous teacher of physiology and author of de Motu Cordis, a masterpiece of clear exposition which demonstrated for the first time the circulation of the blood. Since the goal of this project is to teach physiology as clearly as possible, Harvey is an appropriate model. The fact that Harvey was also an invisible rabbit is apposite for a course that exists only in cyberspace.

back to top

• Incorporate the best teaching materials and methods that are publicly available
• The goal is to draw students into the material so as to foster interest and understanding
• Virtually every screen must be interactive
• Make extensive use of animations, simulations, 3-D models and experimental or pathological results to help students master underlying principles
• Exams would not be part of project, both for security, to allow for customization in scope and depth, and to keep control within the universities. They will be the responsibility of each university.
• The material must be constantly updated in light of current research. Ideally the present, arbitrary distinction between those who do the research and those who write the textbooks will diminish or disappear. Everyone in the field of physiology or physiological medicine should feel he or she is a stakeholder in this project and contribute to it.

back to top

back to top

Has anything like this ever been done before?

In higher education, no, not to my knowledge. We will be the pioneers and, in the measure that we succeed, the inspiration for faculty in other fields. In software engineering yes, collaborative, public-domain development is a well known and highly successful development model. The linux operating system, the Apache web server, the Unix sendmail program and now the Netscape browser are examples.

Why use digital media?

Digital, "knowledge media" such as CD-ROMs and the Internet are quickly transforming the way we teach science. A lecturer explaining the ear can show his class an accurate, 3-dimensional cochlear model and rotate it on screen. When describing the cardiac cycle, he can show them an NMR movie of a normal, beating heart as a video clip. Students learning about blood pressure can investigate for themselves the effects of vasodilation, cardioacceleration and loss of blood using a simulation. However well a professor can teach these subjects with a blackboard and overhead transparencies, he can be more effective by using appropriate digital materials. The trouble is that such materials, though clearly superior, are generally not available yet and are difficult to develop. That is the raison d'être of the Harvey Project.

Why use the Internet?

The wide and growing acceptance of the Internet makes it the best medium for instructional development, particularly for public domain materials. Web-based materials are more easily updated and have a much lower distribution cost than CD-ROMs. The only advantages CD-ROMs enjoy over the web are greater bandwidth -- seldom a major issue in physiology -- and portability. The latter is offset by the fact that materials designed for a web browser can generally be stored on a local hard disk, or even distributed by CD-ROM. Wholesale delivery of classroom materials over the Internet will have a profound effect on higher education, its students and its institutions.

Why public domain?

Since there is no concept of geographical distance on the Internet, professors will choose to use the best materials that are available to them. What good will it do me or anyone else if the neurophysiology site I spend thousands of hours developing turns out to be only second best, and is generally ignored? On the other hand, no academic institution or granting agency appears ready to step forward and fund the development of a truly world-class site for teaching physiology or any other subject. Indeed, there is no worn path showing how to do this because it hasn't been done yet, in any field. Only if we work together can we build something that will be head and shoulders above everything else and set a new standard. Working in the public domain fosters a spirit of openness and cooperation that will attract others to the enterprise and make the work move faster. If we faculty don't rise to this challenge we may find the opportunity taken out of our hands by a Prentice-Hall, a Microsoft or a Time Warner.

Why should faculty or institutions not contributing to this project benefit from our work?

That's the whole point. That's what education is all about.

Shouldn't this kind of thing be left to the textbook companies?

1. I don't believe that a proprietary solution will ever be completely adequate or overwhelmingly successful. I have never seen a physiology textbook I was entirely happy with. Many hands working together are always stronger than a few working in self-interest.
2. What we're undertaking is much more than an online version of a textbook. Its interactivity will set it apart from any textbook, and its use of simulations, 3-D models, current research and scrupulous accuracy will set it apart from any commercial physiology CD-ROM, although particular CDs may incorporate some of these features.

Although textbook companies might feel we are trying to take away their business, I don't think that is the case; I think we are just offering them a new niche. I have never known a student who didn't want a hard copy of all class materials off the web, nor a software product that didn't spawn a half dozen how-to manuals. Instead of investing huge development costs to produce $80 textbooks that are purchased by only a few students, publishers will be able to sell every undergraduate physiology student every semester a $15 or $20 manual printed on newsprint with little or no development overhead.

What skills do I need to participate?

Whatever you can contribute. If you are a skilled teacher, scholar or technologist, and especially if you combine more than one of these roles, Harvey needs you. The skills we need are, first, a sense of what students can "get" easily and what is intrinsically hard for them to grasp, educational design talent, a sense of visual style, a deep understanding of current research, a knack for explaining how things work, and medical illustration skills. On the technical side, we will need programming ability in Java and Perl, HTML and javascript design talent, database and system administration skills, and maybe even a lawyer or two to draft a license agreement. The point of a collaboration is that no one has or needs to have all the necessary skills. We will adopt a constructive peer review process where, if someone thinks he can improve on something, he will try to do so. Differences of opinion about pedagogy, design or implementation will be settled by reasoned debate, followed by a vote.

What's in it for me?

1. long hours of unpaid work
2. the challenge of finding the best way to get students to understand your corner of physiology
3. the pleasure of collaborating with like-minded colleagues committed to a common goal
4. the satisfaction of making a lasting impact on how physiology (and perhaps other sciences) will be taught from now on
5. a share of whatever glory may eventually accrue

We will, of course, apply collectively or individually for whatever grant support we can find. Personally, I can't think of many worthier projects so I'm sure there will be support in the future. We must be prepared to build first and be supported after, however, and I doubt the level of support will ever be commensurate with our efforts.

What is this project really all about?

"The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers."
-- R. W. Hamming, Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers
The purpose of the Harvey project is teaching and learning, not technology.

back to top

• Material will be broken into chapters (Nervous System, Heart, etc.), sections (Membrane Potential, Action Potential, etc.) and units (Ion Channels, Nernst Equation, etc.). Each unit will consist of multiple HTML pages.
• Every page will include a mechanism for page-to-page navigation (Next>, <Back, etc.)
• There will be one or more mechanisms for global site navigation (possibly including an optional VRML 3-D body that students can navigate through, and XML or MCF headers on every page so students can navigate through a concept map)
• There will be online quizzes at the end of every unit. Students will get immediate feedback from these, and a list of links to new units and to pages that review items they got wrong.

back to top

• Management of the project will be loosely structured and decentralized wherever possible. Decisions of overall organization, design, style or implementation will be made by everyone. Once a global framework has been determined, however, work on individual chapters and units can proceed independently.
• Updates are made to one master revision control system, and the latest version of each page will be automatically shadowed to a development web site, which will be password protected and unavailable to the public.
• All developed materials will be subject to rapid peer review for accuracy, style, effectiveness and appropriate use of technology before release. Differences of opinion about pedagogy, design or implementation will be settled by reasoned debate, followed by a vote. Once approved, a page or group of pages will be copied to the master web site, which is public.
• The master web site will be mirrored by participating universities. Each university will be responsible for mirroring the master site and keeping its copy up to date.
• Although the project will include generic mechanisms for login, collecting information from students and linking to a database, each university will be responsible for validating its own students, tracking their data (e.g. from quizzes, etc), preparing and administering exams, and assigning grades.
• Beside the revision control system, participants will communicate by listserver, individual email, discussion group and chat, as appropriate. We will meet in person once a year at a satellite meeting associated with a major scientific conference.

back to top

• Diffusion of molecules in aqueous solution
• Java 3-D demo of neurotransmitters (drag the mouse slowly over the molecules to roll them around)

back to top

click here

back to top

• If you would like to participate in the Harvey Project, comment on it, or contact the webmaster, send an email to HarveyProject@wayne.edu
• To subscribe to the mailing list, send an email to LISTSERV@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU with the message SUBSCRIBE HARVEYPROJ followed by your name, e.g SUBSCRIBE HARVEYPROJ John Smith.
• To send an email to all project participants, email to harveyproj@lists.wayne.edu
• Finally, if you know of someone who might be willing and able to contribute, please tell them about the project.

back to top