Hello! I’m Laura Cotton, and I have just finished my second year studying Biological Science. Instead of having a summer holiday, I opted to join this project and I’m now in week two of a six week UROP placement!
I was really excited to be told I was offered the placement; it provides a great opportunity to get involved in academia from a different perspective. Over the next few weeks, I will be working to develop the online content for the ‘Imaging and Affinity’ module. I am working with Sam Holton and Tee is my day-to-day supervisor.
During my first week, I immersed myself into the lecture contents and the world of protein imaging. Truth be told, I was rather overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead and the complexity of some of the content. However, with the help of a few textbooks, some online journals, and everyone else in the office, I have got to grips with most of it now!
At the end of last week Sam, Tee and I were able to start playing (I mean working) with some video and audio capturing/editing software including Audacity and Microsoft Movie Maker, as well as, using the Smart whiteboards that are located around campus. I currently have several more programmes under installation on my computer, which will hopefully help to produce some interesting and interactive resources for this module.
Currently I am looking at different ways to present maths equations and draw diagrams (rather than the traditional Microsoft PowerPoint delivery) and for the rest of the week I hope to develop this further and apply these techniques to some of the materials I have been working on.
Watch this space over the next few weeks to see how we all are getting on!
Laura Cotton