Thumbnails:
List:
Year:
Category:
Session:
Poster:
Getting poster data...
Stuart G. Jantzen, Jodie Jenkinson, Gal McGill (Biomedical Communications Unit, Department of Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario; Center for Molecular and Cellular Dynamics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts)
Through our research into how biology students learn from animation, it appears there is often a disconnect between molecular processes (e.g. a cell signal cascade) and behaviours (e.g. Brownian motion). Visualizations have the capacity to help or hinder the integration of discrete facts into a robust mental model of the molecular world. Due to technical limitations, design constraints, or a lack of awareness of some fundamental concepts, 3D animations can show macromolecules with biophysically inaccurate properties. Science animators must ask themselves, “How shall I depict molecular motion?”, “How will these molecules interact?”, and “How shall I populate the environment?” We have identified twelve principles that serve as reminders of concepts and behaviours. We hope they will encourage designers to consider how to depict molecular phenomena accurately while conveying information clearly.