Laboratory Equipment for Modular Design of Undergraduate Environmental Geography Courses

该项目将颗粒尺寸分析和x射线衍射的新仪器纳入本科环境地理课程，使实地和实验室经验与传统的以讲座为基础的学习充分结合起来。贝克曼-库尔特激光衍射粒度分析仪，Rigaku XRD系统，以及用于运行它们的计算机系统，被用于六门课程——土壤地理学，土壤实验室方法，环境地理学，野外研究，河流和本科生研究——构成了环境地理学课程的核心。每位教师都强调粒度分析和x射线衍射的不同方面，并且，使用该设备，学生们第一次在合理的时间内进行复杂的分析。因此，涉及使用这些工具的项目更容易纳入现有课程。通过扩大学生实地经验的范围，让学生参与当地和区域环境问题，这些课程使学生更直观地理解科学和技术的原理，这些原理涉及到现实世界的环境问题解决。

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.