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

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

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.