Development of the EdvoReader: a Quantitative PCR and Colorimetry Instrument for Laboratory Skills Training

项目摘要 现代世界需要一支能够收集数据、理解定量分析并 利用这些知识做出明智的决定。这些技能在许多职业中发挥着作用，包括 科学，但在日常生活中也至关重要。学生通过以下方式熟练掌握这些技术： 科学、技术、工程和数学（或STEM）教育。尽管如此，超过2亿美元 每年，在美国教育部的资助下，高中和本科教师都在努力 将定量概念纳入他们的课程。教师面临着成功的多重障碍，包括 缺乏资源、设备、专业知识和时间。本提案通过以下方式解决这些缺陷： 创建设备和实验，使定量研究的教学实验室。 定量实验所需的仪器往往过于昂贵、笨重、易碎或复杂 用于教育环境。因此，我们的目标是开发一种简单的新设备， 在实验室里探索大量的定量生物学技术。这款名为“EdvoReader”的设备将 使用LED和光学检测电子学的最新进展进行设计。EdvoReader将被设计为 专门用于教育用途，并将能够进行比色法和实时PCR分析， 学生对一系列不同的生物测量。重要的是，通过从 EdvoReader可以在最大限度地降低成本的同时，结合教育工作者最需要的功能。 该仪器将使用现有的检测试剂盒进行验证，并与当前设备进行比较，以确保其 能够重复测量。 在第一阶段，一系列强大的，教室安全的实验将采用正宗的EPA水 细菌、铁和铅污染的质量检测。这些分析在世界范围内用于环境 监控，使我们能够使用已知的标准验证设备，并为 EdvoReader平台的商业化。如果没有EdvoReader， 实验将需要多个昂贵的设备。重要的是，这些实验具有广泛的 吸引力，使它们成为生物技术，生物学和环境科学课程的理想选择。 一个由高中教师、大学教师和非营利教育工作者组成的咨询委员会已经招募 支持EdvoReader和公民科学课程的开发。这将指导我们的工作， 学生，这将开始在第二阶段。通过将以课堂为中心的仪器与专用 实验，EdvoReader平台将为教育工作者提供一个廉价和可访问的途径， 教授尖端生物技术。反过来，学生将获得宝贵的实践培训，在现实世界中， 定量技术和理解在课堂实验室中未得到充分利用的STEM分析。

Project Summary The modern world needs a workforce capable of collecting data, understanding quantitative analysis, and using that knowledge to make informed decisions. These skills play a role in many careers, including those in science, but are also vital in navigating daily life. Students gain proficiency in these techniques through education in science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM). Despite this push, and over $200 million per year in funding from the U.S. Department of Education, high school and undergraduate instructors struggle to incorporate quantitative concepts into their curriculum. Teachers face multiple barriers to success, including a lack of resources, equipment, expertise, and time. This proposal addresses these deficiencies through the creation of equipment and experiments that bring quantitative research to the teaching laboratory. The instrumentation needed for quantitative experiments is often too expensive, bulky, fragile, or complicated for use in an educational environment. Therefore, we aim to develop a simple new device that allows students to explore a large array of quantitative biology techniques in the lab. This device, called the “EdvoReader”, will be designed using recent advances in LED and optical detection electronics. The EdvoReader will be designed specifically for educational use and will be capable of both colorimetry and real-time PCR analysis, exposing students to a range of diverse biological measurements. Importantly, by building this instrument from the ground up, the EdvoReader can incorporate the features most requested by educators while minimizing costs. The instrument will be validated using existing assays and compared to current equipment to ensure that it is capable of reproducible measurements. During Phase I a collection of robust, classroom safe experiments will be adapted from authentic EPA water quality testing for bacteria, iron, and lead contamination. These assays are used worldwide for environmental monitoring, allowing us to validate the equipment using known standards and lay the groundwork for the commercialization of the EdvoReader platform. Without the EdvoReader these real-world quantitative experiments would require multiple expensive pieces of equipment. Importantly, the experiments have broad appeal, making them ideal for biotechnology, biology, and environmental science classes. An advisory board of high school teachers, university instructors, and non-profit educators has been recruited to support the development of the EdvoReader and a citizen science curriculum. This will guide our work with students, which will begin in Phase II. By combining a classroom-focused instrument with dedicated experiments, the EdvoReader platform will provide educators with an inexpensive and accessible pathway to instruct cutting-edge biotechnology. In turn, students will gain valuable hands-on training in real-world, relevant quantitative techniques and an understanding of STEM analysis that is underutilized in classroom laboratories.