Laboratory Equipment for Modular Design of Undergraduate Environmental Geography Courses

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Geography (88)The project is incorporating new instrumentation for particle size analysis and X-ray diffraction into the undergraduate environmental geography curriculum, enabling field and laboratory experiences to be fully integrated with traditional lecture-based learning. A Beckman-Coulter laser diffraction particle size analyzer, a Rigaku XRD system, and a computer system used to run them, are being used in six courses -- Soil Geography, Soils Lab Methods, Environmental Geography, Field Studies, Rivers, and Undergraduate Research -- that form the core of the Environmental Geography curriculum. Each instructor is emphasizing a different aspect of particle size analysis and X-ray diffraction, and, using this equipment, students are, for the first time, performing sophisticated analyses in a reasonable amount of time. Thus, projects involving the use of the instruments are being more easily integrated into existing courses. By widening the scope of student field experiences and involving students in local and regional environmental issues, these courses are leading to a more intuitive understanding of the principles of science and technology that are involved in real world environmental problem-solving.