This project is implementing and testing methods to bring research microbeam analytical instrumentation - an electron probe microanalyzer, and a scanning electron microscope, accessible via remote instrument operation technologies - into introductory and upper-level geoscience and natural science courses. This work is building on effective instructional approaches from Beane (2004) and other recent projects by developing and testing both classroom-oriented and research-based activities that make educational use of microbeam instruments in a remote operation environment. Project assessment is focusing on logistical aspects of using these tools in classroom settings, and on their educational benefits - their direct effects on learning in these courses, and the secondary impacts of attracting and retaining students in geoscience fields, and leading students into research-oriented directions later in their academic careers. The educational materials being developed are being submitted to appropriate Science Education Resource Center (SERC) sites for undergraduate geoscience education, and disseminated through workshops for faculty run at the Council on Undergraduate Research Biannual Conference, and at American Geophysical Union and Geological Society of America national meetings.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in the progress it is making toward understanding the educational and professional development value of using research instruments in undergraduate STEM courses. The broader impacts of the project lie in the insights it is providing regarding successful ways to integrate virtual instrument use into science classrooms, which has the potential to expose students across a wide range of institutional settings to some of what research scientists actually do. As well, the outreach activities are not only creating connections between the PI and faculty at many institutions, but are connecting faculty participants to a cutting-edge (and Internet2 accessible) NSF-funded materials microanalysis facility. An additional educational impact of the project involves the participation of an incoming Ph.D. student in geoscience education, who is also teaching faculty at a local community college.
Intellectual Merits: This project tried to assay the educational benefits of using a particular class of research-grade analytical instrumentation as part of undergraduate classroom instruction in geology and natural science courses. The idea of using research-caliber analytical instruments as part of teaching science seems like a common-sense thing to do, given that a student will likely have to use such tools as a professional, or if they pursue graduate training. However, such instruments are expensive, and access to them is limited, so it's hard to give every student in a class a real experience with them. This project gets around the access problem by using the instruments remotely: these systems (a Scanning Electron Microscope, and an Electron Microprobe analyzer) can be fully operated from a distance via the Internet, so it's possible to truly "bring the instrument into class" and give all the students in the course a hands-on experience. The project used these instruments in two formal courses (an Junior level Geology course and an introductory science course for Honors students) and in a follow-on laboratory course the students could choose to take. We examined student impressions of their experiences via post-course surveys, and we studied student learning gains using embedded test questions in a pre-test for each course, and in their final exams, against a baseline of like results collected before we changed the courses to include instrument use. We collected three years of results for each of the courses, and also tracked student engagement in research-like activities such as what we did in the classes after their experiences by noting how many took the optional laboratory courses, how many completed independent research efforts using the instruments, and how many ultimately went on to graduate studies in geology. Survey results on student impressions were very strongly positive - the students clearly enjoyed the instrument use activities, they felt they were learning a potentially valuable set of skills from the experience, and they felt it helped them learn the course content better. Students in the geology majors course noted the experiences made them want to take more courses in science generally, and geology in particular. Students in the non-majors course, despite being nearly as positive on these activities, did not show the same interest in taking more science or (in particular) more geology courses because of it. About 25% of the students in the majors course sought to get additional experience on the instruments and/or to do independent research with the instruments as part of the follow-on lab course, while only three of the students from the introductory course sought follow-on experiences (though two of those students became Geology majors). So far five students have completed presentations on their course-related research projects at professional meetings (with another five seeking to do so presently), and so far five of the students who conducted or are conducting research projects have or are committed to going on for Geology graduate studies. In general, all the students showed improvements in learning critical content in the two courses we were studying, though defining the degree of improvement in learning overall is difficult because there are essentially no validated testing instruments available for measuring student learning gains in geology courses above the introductory level. Broader Impacts: As part of the outreach plan for the project, I conducted workshops for faculty in a variety of venues and meetings - I have convened or facilitated six different faculty workshops on the project so far. Most of these were live demonstrations of using the instruments and the methods I apply in the classroom with them. I've also presented the research results of the project at another half-dozen regional, national, and international professional meetings, and been invited to participate in discipline-wide workshops on issues in geoscience education to talk about the project and its outcomes. Several papers are in process now that we have all the assessment results for the project, aimed both at audiences who want to apply the method (i.e., the CUR Quarterly) and those who want to know its potential benefits (either the Journal of Geoscience Education, or the Journal of College Science Teaching). I've adapted this approach to instruction into my graduate courses as well, taking advantage of my instititutions "equipment fees" structure to cover the costs of instrument usage.
