Integrating the Electronic Desktop into the Natural Sciences

Curriculum Development Project at California State University, Los Angeles

GeneticDrift

GeneticDrift was created for an introductory college course in population genetics. It simulates stochastic fluctuations of allele frequencies in small populations due to random genetic drift. Population size can vary from two to one hundred diploid individuals, any initial allele frequency can be chosen, and anywhere from one to one thousand populations can be simulated simultaneously. Students can switch among several different views: allele frequency versus time, mean allele frequency versus time, mean heterozygosity versus time, the observed distribution of allele frequencies, or the predicted theoretical distribution of allele frequencies. The applications shows running values for the number of polymorphic populations, the number populations fixed for either allele, the average allele frequency, the average heterozygosity, and the mean time to allele fixation. The graphs can printed or copied and pasted into other applications. A screen image of a typical GeneticDrift session appears below. GeneticDrift was written by Dr. Robert Desharnais.

Click to download full resolution image (81.1 KB.)

The Electronic Desktop Project is about improving the way science is taught and learned by bringing the power of advanced workstation technology to introductory science students in both major and general education classes. This involves changing the way in which instruction is delivered using multi-media electronic mail, custom written visualization applications, powerful commercial software packages, and easy-to-use graphical applications that bring the resources of the Internet into the electronic classroom. This project has been funded by grants USE 9153162, DUE 9156142 and DUE 9455428 from the National Science Foundation. For more information contact Dr. Robert Desharnais (biology), (213) 343-2056, rdeshar@calstatela.edu, or Dr. Gary Novak (geology), (213) 343-2406, gnovak@calstatela.edu, California State University, Los Angeles, California, 90032.
Return to the Application Catalog