Conclusion

A biocomputing course need not be the expensive proposition that most people envision. Carefully designing your course to make the most of locally available computing resources, while keeping as close as possible to the original instructional goals, will make it a reality. Once student interest has been established and support achieved, the necessary compromises can be addressed. The instructional depth of the course can be changed; its software and hardware upgraded; and course content modified. Always keep course content current with the ideas in the field, thereby assuring your students the most up-to-date information and approaches possible. The final success of the course can only be measured by your students' response to it and their use of the ideas contained therein in their future endeavors.

Acknowledgments

The graphic shown here is a composite result of using GCG's graphics resources (Figure software and Postscript drivers) plus a cartoon taken from the Charles Miles cartoon clip art collection found on Barry's Clip Art Server (http://www.barrysclipart.com).

Many thanks go to Jill Whelchel and Steve Thompson for their editorial assistance in reviewing this paper.