Inter-institutional Collaboration Research Articles

From Closed to Open Classes - Repositioning Schools to Sustain Rural Communities

Schools have always been central to rural communities, but today they are critical to the sustainability of social and economic life for people who live beyond major centres of population. The development of virtual structures and processes that enhance classes in and between rural schools has provided extended educational and, indirectly, vocational opportunities, for young people in local and non-local communities. The sustaining of small schools and their enhancement through inter-institutional collaboration can now be extended to rural community life. The digital future will be built on relationships between e-learning, e-government, e-business and e-health.

Cross-institutional progress testing: feasibility and value to a new medical school

This study aimed to examine the feasibility of using a progress test to compare the rate of knowledge acquisition among students at a new medical school with that of students at a comparable but long-established school. As part of an ongoing strategy, we administered the McMaster Personal Progress Index (PPI) on four occasions to the first two cohorts of students enrolled in the graduate-entry medical programme at the University of Limerick. We compared mean PPI scores for students at comparable stages in their courses at both schools. To date, the rate of knowledge acquisition is similar in students at both schools. Inter-institutional and international collaboration in progress testing is feasible and provides a useful quality assurance tool which can be used by new schools to reassure students, faculty members and accrediting bodies.

Blurring the Lines between High School and College: Early Colleges and the Effect on Adult Learners

The history of the community college reflects an almost continuous effort to increase access to higher education; women, members of non-dominant groups in society, older learners, learners with disabilities, and now younger students have often accessed higher education through the community college. For over 60 years, the community college has utilized inter-institutional collaboration to expand access and play a vital role in meeting the needs of both traditional and adult students (Bragg, 2006; Koos, 1946). These partnerships have allowed the community colleges to serve students with great diversity in terms of age, professional background, academic ability, and educational goals. By leveraging their resources through collaboration, community colleges have expanded access to higher education and helped increase economic and educational opportunities. As a result of this history of increasing access and inter-institutional collaboration, the community college has become known as the access point to higher education for adult learners, particularly adult learners from nondominant groups within our society (Keene, 2008; Cohen & Brawer, 2008). Adult learners have been a primary constituency for the community college in both degree-seeking curricula and in non-credit programming for occupational and recreation purposes. As the American population ages, there has been an increase in the number of older students at the community college (Krakauer, 2005). A new form of collaboration is developing in several states, which allows greater access and brings a new group of students to the community college. This partnership is, however, threatening some of the dynamics between the community college and its primary constituency: adult students. Early Colleges are small schools designed so students can earn both a high school diploma and an Associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor's degree. For some students, it effectively blends two institutions into one, although it creates a variety of new challenges for community college leaders. These schools have the potential to improve graduation rates and better prepare students for entry into high-skill careers by engaging students in a rigorous curriculum and compressing the number of years to a college degree (Wolk, 2005). Located primarily on community college campuses, Early Colleges allow high school students, beginning as early as the 9th grade, to concurrently earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree with little or no cost to the student. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the presence of high school students, some as young as 14 or 15, has an effect on the learning environment of adult students at the community college. The research examined the perceptions of community college chief academic officers in North Carolina regarding the effect Early College Programs have on adult students. Thirty-eight Early Colleges existed in North Carolina at the time of this study, representing about one-quarter of all Early Colleges in the United States. Several states were watching the aggressive implementation of Early Colleges in North Carolina as they considered similar programs. Adult learners are an important and historically notable constituency for community colleges, and the education of adults is an important part of the community college mission. Therefore, community college leaders would want to be aware of any changes in the adult learning environment created by Early College students on their campus. As with any new program, there may be unintended consequences which result from Early College efforts. The current study investigated whether the presence of Early College students (aged 14-18) had any unplanned effects on the learning experiences of adult students at the community college. Methodology The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of chief academic officers regarding the effect Early College programs have on adult community college students. …

Crossing Borders in Health Communication Research: Toward an Ecological Understanding of Context, Complexity, and Consequences in Community-Based Health Education in the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands

In the past 15 years, researchers in health information dissemination have made significant strides in addressing context, complexity, and consequences (Sharf's “3 Cs”) in theory, research, and praxis. The goal of integrating the 3 Cs in this field, however, remains a challenge. In this article, the authors present 6 principles of a postmodern ecological approach to health information dissemination that attempts such integration. The authors outline proposed principles and use a multiyear, interdisciplinary, and interinstitutional collaboration along the U.S.–Mexico border to illustrate this postmodern ecological approach. The goal of this article is to provide a framework for understanding other projects and communities in which efforts are undertaken to cross physical, social, cultural, economic, and political borders.

Drug discovery dilemma and Cura Quartet collaboration

Many parties contribute to discovery of new drugs - academic researchers, industry scientists, government agencies, and disease foundation helping to corral the resources necessary to sustain research efforts - but it has never been more apparent until now that these parties must work together to accomplish the shared goal of improving health. At a recent conference at the Georgetown University Medical Center, a group of prominent scientists from the academic, industry, government and disease advocacy communities came together to discuss new paths forward for stronger inter-institutional collaboration to establish a framework for translating new discoveries into drugs, improving proof of concept (PoC) studies, and reducing attrition at the clinical stage of drug development.

Dimensions of scientific collaboration and its contribution to the academic research groups' scientific quality

This article analyzes, under several dimensions, whether collaboration contributes to the production of high-quality scientific results. It examines the proportion of scientific quality (measured by impact and relevance) gained by ISI publications considering the presence of a particular form of collaboration. As an application case, this paper offers a micro-level analysis of the academic research groups (ARGs) of a technical university. Results indicate that there are positive and significant benefits in scientific quality received by ARGs as product of international and inter-sector collaboration, and in a broader sense, from the presence of inter-institutional collaboration. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Analysis of regional congenital cardiac surgical outcomes in Florida using The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database

Florida is the fourth largest state in the United States of America. In 2004, 218,045 live babies were born in Florida, accounting for approximately 1744 new cases of congenital heart disease. We review the initial experience of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database with a regional outcomes report, namely the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Florida Regional Report. Eight centres in Florida provide services for congenital cardiac surgery. The Children's Medical Services of Florida provide a framework for quality improvement collaboration between centres. All congenital cardiac surgical centres in Florida have voluntarily agreed to submit data to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Duke Clinical Research Institute prepared a Florida Regional Report to allow detailed regional analysis of outcomes for congenital cardiac surgery. The report of 2007 from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database includes details of 61,014 operations performed during the 4 year data harvest window, which extended from 2003 through 2006. Of these operations, 6,385 (10.5%) were performed in Florida. Discharge mortality in the data from Florida overall, and from each Florida site, with 95% confidence intervals, is not different from cumulative data from the entire Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database, both for all patients and for patients stratified by complexity. A regional consortium of congenital heart surgery centres in Florida under the framework of the Children's Medical Services has allowed for inter-institutional collaboration with the goal of quality improvement. This experience demonstrates, first, that the database maintained by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons can provide the framework for regional analysis of outcomes, and second, that voluntary regional collaborative efforts permit the pooling of data for such analysis.

Building a Strong Web: Connecting Information Spaces in Schools and Communities

Informed by Progressive education reforms of the nineteenth and twentieth century, progressive movements in librarianship, the social responsibility movement within the American Library Association (ALA), and recent collaborations of ALA’s youth-focused divisions, the authors link historical precedents with current examples, ideas, and practices to inform initiatives in education and literacy programming. Progressive librarians and educators share a history of common goals. The article explores how these histories connect with current examples of interinstitutional collaborations among educators, school libraries, public libraries, universities, and community organizations. This paper traces Progressive librarianship to Youth Community Informatics (YCI), collaborative programs in which public libraries, school libraries, teachers, community organizations, and universities connect to form new services or teaching models that connect learning to life in an integrated way. These programs are developing innovative approaches to teaching students; promoting literacy; and encouraging critical thinking and community connectedness within schools, libraries, and community contexts.

Redes de colaboración científica internacional en tabaquismo: análisis de coautorías mediante el Science Citation Index durante el periodo 1999-2003

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze patterns of scientific collaboration and the visibility generated by coauthorship of articles on smoking among different countries on a world-wide basis through the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-expanded) from 1999 to 2003. Material and methods We selected articles on smoking resulting from collaboration among different countries in the SCI-Expanded (1999–2003). The underlying networks of collaboration among countries were analyzed by comparing production (number of articles published), visibility (number of citations received) and centrality (node degree, intermediation and proximity). Results A total of 3,484 articles were obtained, in which 5,008 institutions from 79 countries participated. The most productive country was the United Kingdom, with Germany and France in the second and third places. The United Kingdom also published the largest number of articles with inter-institutional collaboration (570 articles), with the USA and Germany in second and third places. The USA published the largest number of articles with international collaboration with the United Kingdom and France in the second and third places. All countries received a greater number of citations for articles resulting from international and inter-institutional collaboration than for those performed without collaboration. Networks of collaboration were completely connected through a single component and the annual increase in size of these inter-country networks was due to new countries joining the periphery of the network. Conclusions We found a positive correlation between international and inter-institutional collaboration and the number of citations received by articles on smoking research. The number of citations per year remained constant throughout the 5-year study period.

An evaluation of a collaborative approach to the assessment of competence among nursing students of three universities in Ireland

This paper describes a collaborative project conducted by the three principal universities in Dublin to implement and evaluate a competence assessment tool for use by nursing students and their assessors while on clinical placements. In the greater Dublin area, students from three universities are required to share clinical placement sites in specialist practice areas. Accordingly, a liaison group was established among the three universities, in order to develop a common competence-based assessment tool and related protocols for its use. The newly developed competence assessment tool was implemented in 2004, and in 2006, an evaluation of its use was conducted by means of a survey among a non-probability sample of students and their preceptors. Results from the survey data indicate generally positive attitudes to the structure of the tool and positive experiences of its operation in practice. However, respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the amount of time spent completing the assessment tool and the amount of preparation needed to carry out the assessment process. Recommendations for practice include the need to consider placement length in the design process and the need to focus on user preparation. This study also points to the benefits of inter-institutional collaboration in competence assessment and the possible implications for future work in this area.

Investigator‐initiated pragmatic trials in developing countries – much needed but much ignored

The last decade has witnessed clinicians in developing countries gaining recognition as investigators for many sponsor initiated multicentre rials. This is indeed a welcome change as it has provided an impetus for investigators in these countries to gear up and meet world standards. This is exemplified by the fact that the Ethics Committees across countries are increasingly becoming compliant with International Conference on Harmonization-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) guidelines, laboratories are making efforts for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) accreditation, indigenous clinical trial registries have been set up [1] and programmes to train clinical research co-ordinators/monitors and investigators are being undertaken at various levels. Contributions have also been made by generating informed consent templates [2] and by producing teaching materials for clinical trial participants [3]. However, with the recent upsurge of sponsor initiated clinical trials, investigator initiated clinical trials have taken a back seat. High on the agenda for pharmaceutical company-sponsored clinical trials are new drug development or expanding the indication profile of their drugs. Questions such as comparative efficacy of one drug over another or a medical management with surgical/interventional management, strategies to ease drug dosage schedules, quality of life issues, exploration of alternative systems of medicines are not frequently explored in these trials. These are objectives of concern in investigator-initiated trials and the findings of these trials have important bearing for practice and for making health related policies [4]. Many investigators have the keenness and also the know-how for initiating and conducting such trials. However, the task is not easy if GCP standards are to be maintained. Funds are a major crunch. Government funding agencies/research groups/associations in the west have from a long time realized this need and have sponsored such investigator-initiated trials which have contributed significantly to furthering medical knowledge. Key examples would be the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial (DCCT), the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) and Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness. There are some examples from the developing countries as well such as Supplementation with Multiple Micronutrients Intervention Trial (SUMMIT) [5], the SPEAR trial to compare chloramphenicol vs ampicillin plus gentamicin for community acquired very severe pneumonia in children in low resource settings [6], the ongoing CORONIS trial to compare various surgical techniques for Caesarean section. Interestingly the funding for such studies has come from agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Fogarty International Center of the National Institute of Health, Center of International Health and Development of Boston University and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to name a few. This is indeed one of the options for investigators in developing countries but self-reliance should be the ultimate goal. All this would need a great deal of commitment from government aided agencies not only for providing funds for the conduct of the studies, but also for establishing systems for overseeing and ensuring GCP-compliant conduct of these trials. A government agency or scientific societies could play a constructive role in this regard. To start with, investigators who have published pilot trials could be encouraged to evolve their studies into adequately sized (if need be multi-centre) studies. A list of unanswered questions addressing the indigenous needs could be prepared and a list of investigators with proven credentials could be drawn up. For this, investigators with a past track record of conducting and publishing their trials should be chosen. Furthermore, these investigators could be helped to develop final protocols with inputs even from various experts the world over. The trial registration should be ensured. Evaluation of reports of the monitors, data safety monitoring board and audit of the trial could help in paving the way for the conduct of GCP compliant trials. Some problems are indeed expected. There could be concerns about the legal issues such as compensation to the participants in case of injury, insurance of the investigators, staff for ensuring quality control and quality assurance, inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaborations. However, none of these is insurmountable. Successful models are available [7, 8] and benefits could be derived from them to suit the needs of our country. Over a period of time sponsor-initiated trials conducted in developing countries have forayed into the medical literature and created their impact on medical practice. There is no reason why investigator-initiated pragmatic trials should lag behind.

The Transformation of Research in the Health Professions at the University of South Carolina

During the past six years, there has been a remarkable transformation of research, faculty, and interdepartmental, interinstitutional collaboration in the health professions at the University of South Carolina (USC). The author describes the context in which this transformation has occurred and the factors that caused the USC medical school to move from a position of relative insularity from the other colleges within the university--conducting little extramural research, and regarding its relationship with its teaching hospitals as distal, associated institutions--to a position of full integration into the Division of Health Sciences with very significant growth in externally funded research and closer-than-ever-before working relationships with its two teaching hospitals. The author hopes that the model of interinstitutional collaboration USC is developing throughout the region will be thought worthy of emulation elsewhere. In this article, the author reviews the transformation of research in the school of medicine and the other health professions schools--specifically, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work--at USC during the past six years. He explains how these changes were effected while the school continued to support its original mission.

Models of inter-institutional collaboration to build research capacity for reducing health disparities

Health disparities are inequities in the health of different groups of people that may lead to needless pain, suffering, and premature death. The Yale-Howard Partnership Center on Reducing Health Disparities by Self and Family Management is part of a federally-funded initiative to foster the development of partnerships among researchers, faculty, and students at minority-serving institutions and research-intensive institutions. The goal of the initiative is to maximize the resources available to each of the partnering institutions. The purpose of this article is to describe the models of research collaboration that have emerged from the Yale-Howard Partnership Center on Reducing Health Disparities by Self and Family Management.

A structured approach to geographical information in coastal research and management

In coastal areas different views, strategies, policies, practices and technologies about digital spatial data need to be viewed comprehensively. We propose a structured approach to enhance the use of geographical information in coastal applications in three different levels. The building of a Coastal Geographic Information System involves a clear determination of the specific information needs and user groups that correspond to the coastal area in question, and furthermore their evaluation prior to the actual implementation of the system. Second, primary coastal data can be effectively converted into coastal knowledge through enhanced conceptualisation, data combinations and spatial modelling, gaining better spatial data contents to facilitate research, administration and management. Third, Coastal Spatial Data Infrastructures should be promoted to facilitate inter-institutional collaboration and information sharing. The structured approach is presented using the case of the southwest Finnish archipelago coast as an example area.

Developing Academic Strategic Alliances: Reconciling Multiple Institutional Cultures, Policies, and Practices

The Promise of Interinstitutional Collaboration Colleges and universities have often been required to evolve in response to shifting societal priorities. Over the past century, this occurred in the context of an ever-expanding system of higher education built with a substantial investment of public money. If society needed more professional programs, institutions added them. In the current context, however, the expectation of institutional accountability remains undiminished despite an increasingly resource-constrained environment. This places colleges and universities in a double bind. They are expected to address society's needs, yet they often do not have the resources to respond to them. Our institutions of higher learning are limited in the ways they can generate additional capital, and efforts to free resources by reducing administrative overhead and reallocating responsibilities have often produced pyrrhic victories (Eckel, 2003). However, one promising means for developing new capacities is the creation of strategic partnerships between colleges and universities. Such arrangements are well documented in the management literature. Termed interorganizational relationships (IORs), such collaborative enterprises assume a variety of forms (Bailey & McNally Koney, 2000; Barringer & Harrison, 2000). They may be differentiated from one another on a number of dimensions, including: (a) the financial support contributed by each partner, (b) the extent to which the organizational and/or governance structure is formalized and centralized, and (c) the relative contribution of each partner in the development and production of a given good or service. In this study, we focus on academic IORs that are strategic in nature (i.e., they extend beyond the mere sharing of library books or bulk purchasing or similar consortia activities) and have been established for a variety of reasons relating to the inability of one of the partners to solve an important problem (Borys & Jemison, 1989, p. 241). To put it simply, they are working together because no single partner can accomplish what it seeks on its own. The management literature on strategic alliances points out that they are formed for a variety of reasons (Gulati & Singh, 1998) and notes that the rationales for holding them together may shift over time (Spekman, Forbes, Isabella, & MacAvoy, 1998). Alliances open doors to markets by pooling financial and human resources, thereby producing new combinations of products, services, and expertise (Bailey & McNally Koney, 2000; Gulati & Singh, 1998; Hagadoorn, 1993; Oliver, 1990). They extend capabilities, improve the delivery of services, generate greater economies of scale, and reduce expenses by linking complementary technologies or sharing facilities and capacities and jointly investing in new innovations, such as technology (Bailey & McNally Koney, 2000; Borys & Jemison, 1989; Gulati & Singh, 1998; Hagadoorn, 1993; Whetten, 1981). Alliances have been shown to facilitate the development of new ideas and products and allow participating organizations to ''leapfrog into new areas (Gulati & Singh, 1998; Hagadoorn, 1993). Partners that join together learn from one another (Doz, 1996; Hagadoorn, 1993), which is an advantage since buying knowledge and expertise in the marketplace can be prohibitively expensive (Barringer & Harrison, 2000). Together, organizations may find it easier to monitor the changing environment and better understand emerging opportunities or risks (Gulati & Singh, 1998; Hagadoorn, 1993). Alliances may also be formed to defend a current strategic position (Barringer & Harrison, 2000). Finally, an organization may join an alliance to gain legitimacy through association with others, particularly larger, visible, reputable, and prestigious firms (Bailey & McNally Koney, 2000; Barringer & Harrison, 2000). However, managing IORs in the private sector has proven remarkably challenging. …

Understanding Interventions that Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers: Major Questions and Appropriate Methods

There is a long history of intervention programs to increase the numbers and enhance the participation of students in scientific research and the pursuit of scientific careers. Many federal agencies have supported these kinds of programs with a goal of enhancing the diversity of the scientific workforce. Most of these programs operate under the assumption that actively engaging students in research and related professional activities will stimulate their interest in and understanding of science and encourage them to pursue research careers. However, there has been little formal investigation of the shortand long-term effects of such programs and the efficacy of the various program elements. Even though there have been several evaluations of both the federal programs themselves (e.g., National Research Council, 2005) and of individual institutional programs subject to evaluation (e.g., Building Engineering & Science Talent, 2004), there has been little primary research focused on the variables that make particular interventions work for minority students—and why other programs are not successful. Since 2005, the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and its Division of Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) have made two sets of grant awards in response to the NIH’s Request for Applications (RFA) under the Efficacy of Interventions to Promote Research Careers program (RFA-GM05-009) and have recently received applications for a fourth round of awards (RFA-GM-08-005). These RFAs were established specifically to “support research that will test assumptions regarding existing or potential interventions that are intended to increase the preparedness for careers in biomedical research, with a particular interest in those interventions specifically designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical and behavioral research” (page 1). Undertaking research to study the efficacy of specific interventions in any human population is fraught with many challenges. With increasing expectations for accountability, people who may not have conducted this kind of research previously now must become familiar with new protocols (e.g., statistical), new research regulations (e.g., seeking authorization from Institutional Review Boards to work with human subjects), a different research literature, and new venues for communicating their findings. Many scientists may not have had to confront such a large number of variables, many of which cannot be actively controlled, before engaging in this kind of research. As a result, many scientific researchers are not fully prepared to do the kind of research that has been called for by the NIH RFAs. In an effort to promote the submission of high-quality grant proposals—and to encourage expanded and imaginative research in this area—the MORE Division asked the National Academies to organize a workshop that would examine the current state of research about interventions that could significantly influence the participation of underrepresented minorities in pursuing research careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The ultimate goals of this workshop were to help researchers develop appropriate kinds of research questions that measure the contributions of various factors to the success of DOI: 10.1187/cbe.07–06–0034 Address correspondence to: Jay B. Labov (jlabov@nas.edu).

Current status and future directions of surgery for lung cancer in China

Current status and future directions of surgery for lung cancer in China

Gauging the Deliverable? Educational Research in Northern Ireland

This article considers the landscape for educational research in the smallest country of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland. As elsewhere, educational research exists in political and economic circumstances that have considerable influence on its direction, nature and purpose and this article seeks to contextualise these influences. Northern Ireland differs considerably from the other three jurisdictions by virtue of it being very small (a population of circa 1.5 million), a fact that creates systemic difficulties such as capacity weaknesses in both numbers of researchers and the range of research skills available. Perhaps most importantly, however, Northern Ireland is uniquely distinguished from England, Scotland and Wales by having a proportionately large selective education system (grammar and non-selective secondary schools) and a politically and religiously divided population. This article argues that in combination with such national pressures as the Research Assessment Exercise, these contextual features result in a largely instrumental role for educational research — a tool to gauge what policy changes are deliverable. A strategic direction based on a dialogue between the government and the researcher community is therefore needed to prevent the continuation of a perceived ad hoc and fragmented system of educational research. The challenges of building a thriving research community in such circumstances also include the need to promote innovative ideas and related research, and to encourage greater inter-institutional collaboration. This in turn, it is argued, will help to create a community of practice capable of both sustaining itself in the future and making available a broader range of research competence.

Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Collaboration

Scientific research has always been a collaborative undertaking, and this is particularly true today. For example, between 1981 and 2001, the average number of coauthors on a paper for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A rose from 3.9 to 8.4 [1]. Why the increase? Biology has always been considered the study of living systems; many of us now think of it as the study of complex systems. Understanding this complexity requires experts in many different domains. In short, these days success in being a biologist depends more on one's ability to collaborate than ever before. The Medical Research Centers in the United Kingdom figured this out long ago, and the new Janelia Farm research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the United States has got the idea, as it strongly promotes intra- and inter-institutional collaborations [2]. Given that collaboration is crucial, how do you go about picking the right collaborators, and how can you best make the collaboration work? Here are ten simple rules based on our experience that we hope will help. Additional suggestions can be found in the references [3,4]. Above all, keep in mind that these rules are for both you and your collaborators. Always remember to treat your collaborators as you would want to be treated yourself—empathy is key.

Development and assessment of web‐based resources for teaching cancer biology

Education research has documented many factors that hinder learning in introductory science courses, including failure to relate to other disciplines, lack of a unifying concept, and irrelevance to life outside the classroom. To overcome such problems, many teachers use cancer as a theme in their courses. Here we present two resources to assist in teaching the basic concepts of cancer biology. The first, Cancer – Biology and Beyond, is a short hypertextbook that uses the theme of cancer to introduce students to basic scientific concepts. The “Breaking News” links encourage users to consider interdisciplinary issues such as the ethics of mandatory vaccinations. Descriptions of in-class and lab activities are also provided. The second resource, Perspectives on Cancer, resulted from an interinstitutional collaboration. This site provides information on the molecular basis of cancer and the epidemiology of the disease. While exploring the molecular basis of cancer, users track changes in the DNA of fictional characters, observing gene mutations and how these changes may, or may not, lead to a cancer diagnosis. Perspectives on Cancer also introduces the concepts of correlation and causation in the context of cancer epidemiology. The associated Map Viewer allows students to quickly and easily search for correlations between lifestyle and cancer mortality. Preliminary assessment of both resources will be presented.