Modernization of MBI 425/525 and other courses

Project Title: Modernization of MBI 425/525 and other courses

Project Lead’s Name: Mitchell Balish

Email: balishmf@miamioh.edu

Phone: (513) 529-0167

Please Choose the Primary Affiliation: CAS

Are There Other Project Team Members?: No

Brief description of project: The Department of Microbiology proposes to use the tech fee to purchase two Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/VIS) spectrophotometers, two Visible Light spectrophotometers, and six sets of four micropipettors. This equipment will be useful in the laboratory portion of our newly revamped MBI 425/525 (Microbial Physiology) course, currently taught by Dr. Annette Bollmann, allowing students to perform more modern and sophisticated enzyme assays. This skill will be useful to them as they proceed toward careers in microbiology, physiology, and biochemistry. Additionally, the micropipettors will be useful for not only MBI 425/525, but other laboratory courses, including MBI 201 (Introduction to Microbiology), MBI 415/515 (Principles and Practice of Immunology), MBI 405/505 (Medical Bacteriology), and MBI 465/565 (Genetics Laboratory).

Does this project focus on graduate student education or graduate student life?: Yes

If yes, please explain: Graduates pursuing M.S. and Ph.D. degrees routinely take MBI 525, MBI 505, MBI 515, and to a lesser extent, MBI 565.

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem.: For MBI 425/525, the laboratory is underequipped to address certain enzymatic assays in a manner that is appropriate to modern training and education in this area. Obtaining these spectrophotometers will allow this training. The additional micropipetters will allow students in all laboratory classes to perform their experiments in a more timely manner, instead of having to wait for each other to finish using the equipment.

The criteria state that technology fee projects should benefit students in innovative and/or significant ways. How would you describe the innovation and/or significance of your project?: With this equipment, students will have the proper time to conduct their experiments in ways that foster inquiry-based learning as a group.

How will you assess the project?: 1. In MBI 425/525, the quality of the students' data from the experiments using this equipment will be examined and compared with expectations. 2. In MBI 425/525, the content of students' laboratory reports will reveal the extent to which students benefited from the additional spectrophotometers. 3. The ability of the students to perform additional experiments because of the time saved by the presence of additional micropipetters in all classes will be evaluated.

Have you applied for and/or received Tech Fee awards in past years?: No

Budget: Hardware

Hardware Title(s) & Vendor(s): Vendor: Midwest Scientific, Inc. Alpha Starter Kit (6 sets of 4 micropipetters); 7305 Spectrophotometer UV/Vis (2); 6320D Spectrophotometer Vis (2)

Hardware Costs: $12,834.00

What is the total budget amount requested?: $12,834.00: