Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss will be co-presenting with Environmental Science professor Scott Benjamin at the ‘13th Annual Massachusetts Community College Conference on Teaching, Learning and Student Development‘. This conference is being held this year at Bunker Hill Community College, in Charlestown, MA.

The project to be presented is a digital lab, used in professor Scott Benjamin’s science classes at BHCC. The lab’s subject matter is understanding Evolution by Natural Selection. Matthew worked directly with Scott to translate a previously analog lab, comprised of seeds, paperclips and bits of paper, to a Flash driven, interactive experience.

The process of creating this lab involved collaborating with Scott on every step, from graphic design to Flash Actionscripting.

The results of translating the lab to digital media, has proven to be quite successful. Scott has collected statistical data from his students, including pre and post lab usage. Based on his testing, Scott sees a definite increase in concept retainment after students have used the software. Matt and Scott will split the presentation between the design and development process (Matt), and the statistical data and impact of this digital lab in the classroom (Scott).

The 13th Annual Massachusetts Community College Conference on Teaching, Learning and Student Development happens on April 9th, 2010 at Bunker Hill Community College.