Integrating the Electronic Desktop into the Natural Sciences

Curriculum Development Project at California State University, Los Angeles

Mutation

Mutation was created for an introductory college course in population genetics. It simulates stochastic fluctuations in the genetic composition of a population due to the balance between random genetic drift and mutation. Population size can vary from one hundred to one thousand diploid individuals and mutation rates between 0.001 and 0.0001 per allele per generation can be selected. Students can switch among three different views: allele frequencies versus time, mean homozygosity versus time, or a symbolic representation of the gene pool. In the latter view, alleles are represented by different letters and different colors. The application shows running values for the observed and expected homozygosity, the current number of alleles, the maximum number of alleles that ever existed in the population, and the total number of alleles produced by mutation. Graphs can printed or copied and pasted into other applications. A screen image of a Mutation session appears below. Mutation was written by Dr. Robert Desharnais.

Click to download full resolution image (99.9 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.
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