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、理解定量分析和 利用这些知识做出明智的决定。这些技能在许多职业中都发挥着作用，包括那些 科学，但在日常生活中也是至关重要的。学生通过以下途径熟练掌握这些技术 科学、技术、工程和数学(或STEM)教育。尽管有这样的推动，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苦苦挣扎 将量化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 创造设备和实验，将定量研究带到教学实验室。 定量实验所需的仪器通常过于昂贵、笨重、脆弱或复杂 在教育环境中使用。因此，我们的目标是开发一种简单的新设备，使学生 在实验室中探索大量的定量生物学技术。这款名为“EdvoReader”的设备将 采用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，将能够同时进行比色法和实时PCR分析，曝光 对学生进行一系列不同的生物测量。重要的是，通过从 经过磨砺，EdvoReader可以整合教育工作者最需要的功能，同时将成本降至最低。 该仪器将使用现有的分析方法进行验证，并与当前的设备进行比较，以确保它是 能够重复测量的。 在第一阶段，一系列强大的教室安全实验将改编自正宗的EPA水 细菌、铁和铅污染的质量检测。这些分析方法在世界范围内被用于环境保护 监控，使我们能够使用已知标准验证设备，并为 EdvoReader平台的商业化。没有EdvoReader，这些现实世界中的量化 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 吸引人，使它们成为生物技术、生物和环境科学课程的理想选择。 已经招募了一个由高中教师、大学教师和非营利性教育工作者组成的顾问委员会。 支持EdvoReader和公民科学课程的开发。这将指导我们的工作 学生，将在第二阶段开始。通过结合以课堂为重点的乐器和专门的 实验，EdvoReader平台将为教育工作者提供一条廉价和可访问的途径 指导尖端生物技术。反过来，学生将在现实世界中获得宝贵的实践培训， 定量技术和对STEM分析的理解，这在课堂实验室中没有得到充分利用。

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.