Integrating Imaging Physics into Undergraduate STEM Education

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing educational resources on biomedical imaging -- an engaging, interdisciplinary topic -- for use in a range of STEM courses. This collaborative project involves investigators at Lewis & Clark College (Award DUE-2315741) and Portland State University (Award DUE-2315742). Imaging is everywhere.

People use their eyes to see and cameras to take pictures. Scientists use microscopes to peer into cells, and telescopes to peer out into space. Physicians use ultrasound, X-rays, radioisotopes, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look inside human bodies.

This project will generate engaging, interactive tutorials that will help the next generation of scientists and non-scientists, and the general public, learn about and master the scientific foundations, diagnostic and therapeutic applications, and strengths and weaknesses of key medical imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and MRI. In addition, the tutorials will enhance engagement, learning, and retention in STEM by illustrating the pivotal role of STEM concepts in the fascinating and highly relevant fields of medical imaging and imaging science.

The multidisciplinary team of investigators will develop, test, and disseminate a cohesive set of interactive, inquiry-driven teaching simulations that cover medical imaging and its foundations in science. The simulations, together with background text, assessment questions, and research-directed surveys, will be organized into four modules, each covering one of four major medical imaging modalities: ultrasound, radiography (planar and tomographic X-ray-based imaging), nuclear imaging (planar and tomographic radionuclide-based imaging), and MRI.

To facilitate broad use in undergraduate education, the modules will be open-source and designed for use in common online learning management systems (e.g., Moodle, Canvas). The project team's major goals are (1) to develop the four modules; (2) to integrate them in two different biomedical physics courses at two institutions, which have different student populations and teaching environments; (3) to assess the modules' use by and impact on students at the two institutions; and (4) to disseminate and maintain the interactive educational modules, assessment materials, instructor resources, and research results to support relevant teaching communities.

As part of the education research component of the work, the investigators will conduct survey- and interview-based research to explore how the modules impact (1) the attitudes of STEM majors about the importance of an interdisciplinary science background and (2) the interest of STEM majors in science and careers at the boundaries of traditional disciplines. The NSF IUSE: EDU program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

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.