AWC's new high-tech system a boon to biology department

  The acquisition of a new technology system at Arizona Western College's Biology Department heightens student learning opportunities now that they can train with cutting-edge tools that offer real-world results, school officials say.

  AWC recently obtained six Biopac Systems and laptops owing in part to Title V funding, the federal grant program aimed to improve education for 27 targeted areas.

  John King, AWC biology professor, said the department is excited about being able to use the new technology in a classroom setting. The Biopacs "elevates the anatomy and physiology program to a level seen at a major university and the timing coincides with the opening of the new science building," he said in a press release.

  Biopac is a software/hardware system that aids students to study respiratory, circulatory, muscular, neural and other systems by conducting experiments on themselves. Students now will be able to better analyze data drawn from lectures, the release said.

  There is no other comparable system to Biopac that can combine aspects of the laboratory environment, the technology of their software, gathering of data, and have it relate so well to the concepts of the physiological workings of the body, the release explained.

  Jana Moore, associate dean of distance learning, was instrumental in helping to obtain Title V funding, along with Cesar Sanchez, Mary Rhona Francoeur, Don Riney, Carol Rinehart and Stacy Lopez.

  Moore said AWC wanted to boost the lab portion of classes in order the get maximum teaching benefits, according to the release.

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William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.