Equipment: Strengthening STEM education through instrumentation support for physics and engineering

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Educational Instrumentation project at Northeast Lakeview College (NLC) will strengthen undergraduate learning in engineering and physics. Specifically, this project will secure dynamics and electronics experiment sets, oscilloscopes, a 3D printer, lightboards and one-button studio technology, which will allow students to engage in hands-on skill application and lab experiments that enable visualization of theoretical concepts in Physics I, Mechanics I: Statics, Mechanics II: Dynamics, and Engineering Graphics. An estimated 675 students and 15 faculty will utilize the project-funded equipment over a two-year period. The goals of this project are to enrich the learning and experiences of undergraduate students by providing critical instruments and equipment in engineering and physics. The project will evaluate the impact of project funded equipment using student and faculty engagement surveys to assess instrument/equipment course incorporation and learning impact. The project’s one-button studio makes video content creation accessible to faculty with varying levels of technical proficiency through technological integration with an intuitive interface. Because of the ability to create dynamic and interactive STEM visual content, faculty can easily convey complex concepts with visually appealing videos that can increase student motivation and learning outcomes. As an additional project impact, NLC faculty will be encouraged to disseminate instructional videos developed through sponsored lightboard and one-button studio technology on the College’s existing Panopto web interface. Expanding this institutional storehouse can increase access to supplemental learning resources for students and broaden the variety of learning supports available to NLC faculty. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and increase capacity to engage in the development and implementation of innovations to improve STEM teaching and learning at HSIs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.