John Melville, Director of Biology at Vernier Software & Technology, appeared on the Education Excellence podcast to discuss why data-collection technology is a great tool for teaching human physiology.

The Evolution of Data-Collection Technology

Melville has a long history with data-collection technology. While earning his Ph.D. in Zoology at Oregon State University, Melville helped implement data-collection technology into their animal and human physiology courses. A lot has changed since then, but perhaps the most notable thing is that students can now collect data easily and on their own devices with the help of new innovative sensors and free apps.

“Data-collection technology has changed dramatically,” Melville says on the podcast. Thanks to advances in technology, data collection can be recorded digitally rather than by hand or on paper, which reduces a lot of the high-level, complicated hard work that was once necessary to collect human physiology data. “We went from having a trained specialist who knew how to use a very particular machine to using sensors and transducers that plug into a computer. … It’s made things a lot easier.”

Why Data-Collection Technology Matters

Removing some of the barriers that discourage educators from implementing data-collection technology into their classrooms, such as cost and complexity, has been part of the mission at Vernier since the company’s inception. Melville discusses at length the importance of teaching students data collection, and how doing so can help your class see that “physiology is the physics and chemistry of how animals and plants work.”

Listen to the podcast

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