Improving a Microscopy Course: Integrating Electron Microscopy with Scanning Probe Microscopy

物理学(13)扫描探针显微镜(SPM)凭借其在原子和分子水平上的可视化和操纵能力，在过去的十年中已成为科学和技术最重要的进步之一。该项目正在将SPM整合到密苏里大学堪萨斯城分校(UMKC)教授的一门为期两学期的电子显微镜(EM)课程中。在课程中加入扫描电子显微镜仪器，让学生对尖端显微镜技术有更广阔的视野和体验。由于这门课程涵盖了更广泛的显微镜技术，并强调了这些技术在不同领域的应用，因此该课程还提供了一种更有效的教学方法。这门课程的改进是通过引入两个验证型实验来实现的，除了现有的EM动手实验外，在第一学期使用SPM在明确定义的晶体表面上可视化原子结构。接下来，在第二学期，我们进行了三个探究性实验，分别涉及SPM和EM。改进后的课程加强了UMKC在科学、数学、工程和技术方面的跨学科教育。

Physics (13) With its capability of visualization and manipulation at atomic and molecularlevels, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has become one of the most importantadvancements in science and technology in the past decade. This project is adapting and integratingSPM into a two-semester Electron Microscopy (EM) course that has been taught at theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). The addition of SPM instrumentation tothe course gives students a broader view and experience on the cutting edgemicroscopy technologies. The integration also allows a more efficient approach inteaching the subject, because the course covers a wider range of techniques used inmicroscopy and emphasizes the application of these techniques in various fields. Theimprovement of the course is being achieved by introducing, in addition to the existinghands-on experiments on EM, two verification-type experiments using SPM to visualizeatomic structures on well-defined crystalline surfaces in the first semester. This isfollowed, in the second semester, by three inquiry-based experiments that involve bothSPM and EM. The improved course enhances the interdisciplinary educationin science, mathematics, engineering and technology at UMKC.