Bio

Francisca Aladejana has a BSC in education and biology (First Class Honours), an MA in science education, and a PhD in Botany (Ife). She is a senior lecturer and the current acting director of the Institute of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. She has won two distinguished awards. Her research interests include science education, gender studies, ICT use in science teaching, and very recently NKS. She has attended many international conference and has published widely in many national and international journals.

Project: Mutation: Cellular Automaton and Experiential Learning

Mutation, a transmissible change in genetic material, usually occurs in a single gene and is in the form of a sequence change in a segment of the DNA. Such mutation can lead to phenotypic changes, which are often difficult for learners to comprehend. This project will use cellular automata to visualize such changes that involve only one position at a time and the resultant changes in pattern. Generating such models can provide experiential learning, a process of learning from direct, concrete, hands-on experience about how a simple change can produce behavior of great complexity. To visualize this phenomenon, cellular automata will be displayed in a specific ordering that illustrates the concept of a systematic sequence of changes in the rules where only one cell changes per iteration. This will be achieved by varying the cells using the Gray Code ordering (non-binary, ternary, 3-color) in which successive numbers can be arranged to differ in one digit. The CellularAutomaton function in Mathematica is expected to yield a wide array of interesting complex pattern changes.

Favorite Four-Color, Radius-1/2 Rule

Rule chosen: 3304676146

Four colors, radius 1/2, from a single initial cell on an infinite white background for 800 steps; rule 3304676146. This can be used to visualize the growth of an organism from a single fertilized egg to a large, complex, multicellular form with cells and tissues of various shapes.