FINAL REPORT to CREW
Project Title: Women in Science CD-ROM


Team Members: Megan Crotty and Lisa Trujillo
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cushman
External Sponsor: Mary Lou Wylie, JMU
Women’s Studies Department


We have created a CD-ROM tutorial for the JMU Women’s Studies Department. This CD-ROM will be used to aid in the teaching of a class entitled " Women in Science". We researched the history of women who have had an impact in the various fields of science, including natural, social, and health sciences. Then, we organized the research information and created a CD-ROM using Macromedia Authorware 5.1 and Adobe Photoshop 5.5. The contents of the CD not only contains our research of the women in science, but also stores images, short quizzes, and internet links to aid the students in their learning process.

The first step in creating this CD-ROM, was to determine what women would be included, what field (Natural, Social, or Health) and sub-field (Biology, Sociology, or Nursing) they fell into. Also, we wanted to encompass a wide range of women from different ethnic backgrounds, such as Hispanic, African American, Russian, and German.

We were provided with some research information via e-mail from Dr. Roscher, Department Chair of Chemistry at American University. Dr. Roscher has a strong interest in women scientists and she had research information, which she had collected and was willing to share with us. Our senior thesis advisor, Dr. Cushman, met Dr. Roscher while she was attending a faculty development course in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2000. Dr. Roscher was one of the instructors of the course, entitled, "Women and Minorities in the Sciences: A History of the Past and Strategies for the Future". While Dr. Cushman was there, she told Dr. Roscher about our research project, and Dr. Roscher explained that she had some research information about women that could help us. This was perfect timing, because we began our research in the fall of 2000. We received her research information as PowerPoint presentations when we began working on this project. We then had to make decisions about the format of biographical information about each woman. We determined that the format based on the research information provided by Dr. Roscher provided the best outline. At the end of this phase we decided to include: Birth, Education and Personal Life, Professional Experience, Contributions to Science, Awards and Honors, and Death information about each woman.

Once we determined the biographical content we had to figure out what science fields and subfields we wanted to include in this program. With our research and the advice of JMU faculty, we narrowed the various fields of science to include the following topics: Math and Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science/Engineering, Math, and Physics/Astronomy), Health Sciences (Medical Science, Nursing, Nutrition, and Reproductive Health and Sexuality), and Social Sciences (Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology).

The next thing we did was to create a storyboard. The storyboard was a textbox layout that portrayed what the interface of the CD-ROM might look like and how the major components would be arranged. In this phase we came up with a few user interface designs for our sponsor to select from.

Once the information and design were organized we began creating the CD-ROM application using Macromedia Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Macromedia Authorware 5.0. Macromedia Flash was used to create the rolling introduction page. Illustrator was used to create the application logo and button icons. Photoshop was utilized to scan and refine images that were obtained from websites and books. Macromedia Authorware was the software that was used to create the actual application including the rolling introduction with the logo, the biographical information, pictures, quizzes, activities, and ending portion of the program.

One of the final steps in the software development lifecycle is Beta testing. Ten James Madison University students and one faculty member tested the Women in Science CD-ROM. Some of the students were Integrated Science and Technology students and others were not. We wanted to make sure that we got a variety of students to test the CD-ROM application so that we could get a fair evaluation of likes, dislikes, and general suggestions. We had our sponsor, Dr. Wylie, test the program also, because we wanted to make sure that all of her specifications were met, before we published the final product. We also wanted to be sure to test the CD-ROM on different computers including university computers, home personal computers, and laptop computers. By doing this we located the glitches and worked on correcting them in order to create a final product.

At the termination of this project, we created the following: a designed user interface, graphics, a CD jewel case cover using Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Adobe Illustrator 8, and a programmed and executed CD-ROM using Macromedia Authorware 5.1 and Macromedia Flash 4. The completed CD includes a brief rolling introduction about the history of women in science and technology (with music), a main menu page with navigation buttons, and content pages with our researched material along with quizzes and activities for each subtopic. We have also prepared this documentation to supplement our project.