The Internet as a Medium for Experimentation

Abstract

Computer science has grown quickly in many different directions. It has allowed advancements in almost all scientific disciplines, and changed the lives of the people of all industrialized nations with its development of the communications industry. In any given scientific project, you can see the differences computers have made by speeding up calculations, record keeping, communications, and many other applications. Computer science is a discipline that does a remarkable job of assisting other fields of study. Professionals of all disciplines would be wise to make use of the possibilities, but must also know when using a computer is not the best choice. I present a website that I made as an example of some of the changes computers have made in science. The website is a research/learning tool on a psychological concept called stereotype threat that I made as part of a project with a small group from the college community in Kalamazoo. It includes a video lecture, a case study on stereotype threat, and a simulation of a stereotype threat condition that involves the participant taking a math test and some psychological questionnaires. The simulation was first used for research; the participant's answers to the test and the questionnaires were recorded into a database and used as data for a study. After doing the simulation, he or she had the option of reading the case study or watching the lecture. Now that the study is complete, the simulation remains online to use as a teaching tool for people who visit the site. Following the description of the website and the work that went into making it is an examination of the web experimentation method as compared to the more traditional laboratory setting.