Improving Undergraduate Learning Through Use of a Low-Vacuum Scanning Electron Microscope with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer

该项目通过采用个人计算机控制的LVSEM/EDS来优化专家和新手的学习，该系统将基于研究和发现的经验整合到本科课程中。利用“亲身实践”的发现和研究经验来教育本科生，实现了诸如Bonwell&amp；Eison(1991)的“主动学习”和图克斯伯里(1995)的“离开课堂的策略”等建议。通过将这种设备应用于本科科学和非科学专业课程，学生们正在对一系列标本(例如矿物、微化石、海胆、细胞结构、骨工具和陶瓷)进行成像和化学分析，以促进问题解决和发现交流。我们正在整个课程的实验室中使用这种设备(即地质学、生物学、化学和人类学的入门、中级和高级课程)，并与学院内外的同事分享实验室和成果。该项目正在对地质学课程产生特别的影响，目前地质学课程具有丰富的实地经验，但通过采用这些技术，分析实验室经验较差。地质学课程的本科生将在各种应用中使用LVSEM/EDS，包括分析矿物以获得晶体形态和化学信息，并通过检查悬浮颗粒物来了解海洋生物地球化学通量。在整个课程中，该乐器被纳入18门课程。学生们正在体验发现，在科学的过程中获得第一手知识(包括假设生成和数据收集)，并认识到科学在他们生活中的重要性和意义。

This project optimizes the expert and novice student learning by adapting the personal-computer controlled LVSEM/EDS which integrates research and discovery-based experiences into undergraduate courses. Using "hands-on" discovery and research experiences to educate undergraduate students implements recommendations such as Bonwell & Eisons' (1991) "Active Learning" and Tewksbury's (1995) "Strategies fro Moving Away from lectures. Other pedagogical reports emphasize research activities such as NSF's "Shaping the Future" and Holliday, etal's (1996) "Straight Talk about Research to Geoscience teachers" Connecticut College, Amherst College and Middlebury College there has been success in using the instrument in their courses. By adapting this equipment to uses in undergraduate science and non-science majors courses, students are imaging and making chemical analysis of a range of specimens (e.g. minerals, microfossils, sea urchins, cell structures, bone tools, and ceramics) which are promoting problem solving and communication of discoveries. We are implementing the use of this equipment in laboratories in courses across the curriculum (i.e. introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in geology, biology, chemistry, and anthropology) and we share the laboratories and outcomes with colleagues within and outside the college. This project is having a particular impact on the geology curriculum that is currently rich in field experiences, but poor in analytical laboratory experiences by adapting these technologies. Undergraduates in geology courses are using the LVSEM/EDS in a variety of applications including analyzing minerals to obtain information on crystal form and chemistry, and by examining suspended particulate matter to understand marine biogeochemical fluxes. The instrument is incorporated into 18 courses throughout the curriculum. The students are experiencing discovery, acquiring first-hand knowledge in the processes of science (including hypothesis generation and data collection), and appreciating the importance and significance of science in their lives.