Equipment: Enhancing undergraduate education by creating a digital classroom with networked compound microscopes

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Educational Instrumentation project at CUNY Baruch College will strengthen undergraduate learning in the Biological Sciences. Specifically, this project will secure 49 microscopes with networked digital cameras, which will allow students to have access to high-quality microscopes in Microbiology as well as Principles of Biology I and II, Genetics, Animal Behavior, Principles of Evolution, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Developmental Biology, Human Physiology, Comparative Immunology, and Biology of Invertebrates. An estimated 1,400 Biology students will utilize the project-funded equipment each year. The goals of this project are to enrich the learning and experiences of undergraduate students by upgrading critical equipment in the Biological Sciences. The project enhances the student learning experience as students will acquire microscopy skills. The project will assess the impact of the funded equipment using student surveys and open-ended questions. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education 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.