Improvement of the Earth Science Curriculum and Undergraduate Research with X-Ray Diffraction

利用 X 射线衍射改进地球科学课程和本科生研究

• 批准号: 9650919
• 负责人: Karen Bartels
• 金额: $ 2.58万
• 依托单位: Northeastern Illinois University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-06-01 至 1998-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9650919&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improvement; Earth; Science; Curriculum; Undergraduate

The primary objectives of this project are to provide a hands-on research experience to undergraduates in the high-enrollment Introduction to Earth Science course and to foster more undergraduate research by engaging students in thought-provoking, modern, laboratory experiences in the sophomore, junior, and senior years. The department is doing this by introducing quantitative mineral identification into the undergraduate curriculum in a sequential manner, beginning with the high-enrollment Introduction to Earth Science course, progressing with increasing sophistication into the intermediate level, and culminating in the upper-level courses and independent research projects. The Introduction to Earth Science students are spending 3 weeks working on a project concerning swelling clays in the area soils and are generating data that can be forwarded to the regional agricultural affairs office. Students in the intermediate level course, Rocks and Minerals, are being provided with the theoretical background and lab experience pertaining to instrumental analysis and sample preparation. Students in this class apply their knowledge in a group project, working on a different set of materials each year, eventually writing a report for presentation. Lastly, students in the more advanced courses, including Mineralogy, Petrology, Petrography of Fine-Grained Sediments, Advanced Mineralogy and Crystallography, and Igneous Petrology, are able to engage in a variety of independent research projects. This department is adapting its programs by upgrading an old x-ray diffraction system, which is the most suitable and versatile instrument for conducting mineral identification analysis. The new laboratory experiences provide for both an overall improved undergraduate curriculum and a more intimate science experience for the introduction-level nonmajors, a need recently identified by the AAAS project on Liberal Education and the Sciences.

该项目的主要目标是为地球科学课程的高尚介绍介绍提供动手研究经验，并通过让学生参与大二，初中和高年级的知识良好，现代，实验室的经验来促进更多的本科研究。该部门通过以顺序的方式将定量矿物识别引入本科课程中，从地球科学课程的高额介绍开始，随着成熟程度越来越高，并在上级课程中提高了高级课程和独立的研究项目。 地球科学专业的学生正在花3周的时间在一个有关该地区土壤中肿胀的粘土的项目工作，并正在生成可以转发给区域农业事务办公室的数据。中级课程中的学生，岩石和矿物质，具有与工具分析和样品制备有关的理论背景和实验室经验。该班级的学生将他们的知识应用于小组项目，每年从事一组不同的材料，最终撰写了一份报告。最后，包括矿物学，岩石学，细粒沉积物的岩石学，高级矿物学和晶体学以及火成岩质学在内的更高级课程的学生能够从事各种独立的研究项目。 该部门通过升级旧的X射线衍射系统来调整其程序，该系统是进行矿物识别分析的最合适和通用的工具。新的实验室经验既可以为简介级别的非工作人员提供了整体改进的本科课程，也提供了更亲密的科学经验，这是AAAS关于自由教育和科学项目的需求。