ISU engineering professors are bringing cutting-edge technology into high school and middle school classrooms via the Internet.

The Materials Science and Engineering Department, in conjunction with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is combining the power of the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with the abilities of the Internet to enhance learning in classrooms.

“We got a grant in 1992 [from the National Science Foundation] to develop a microscope for teaching purposes here at ISU,” said Scott Chumbley, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

From there, the department expanded its research on the microscope to younger students through WebSEM.

“With a little bit more work, we [made] it available to high school students, and in 1997 we got another grant to develop this for K through 12 education,” he said. “The first grant was strictly for college purposes and the second was for pre-college purposes.”

After the department received the grant for the microscope, funded by R.J. Lee Instruments, students were hired to assist with the research, he said.

“It was a collaborative effort from its inception three years ago,” said Connie Hargrave, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction.

ISU students are introduced to the technology in Curriculum and Instruction 201, which “exposes students to the available technology,” said Tom Andre, professor of curriculum and instruction. “They learn about [the project] and that it is available.”

The outreach program, called Project ExCEL, is being used more and more as it continues to grow and expand.

Chumbley said he has one to two schools contact him each week to schedule a session on WebSEM.

A WebSEM session is operated through a basic Internet browser. Several schools in Iowa, mostly high schools and some middle schools, have used the program, Chumbley said.

Students need a few trial runs with the program to get comfortable with it, he said, because it is still experimental and they may encounter bugs.

“I have one student developing software to make it faster and more reliable,” he said.

Students in curriculum and instruction are trying to provide ideas for lessons and samples, Chumbley said.

According to the Web site, http://mse.iastate.edu/excel, “once you have decided how you would like to use the SEM, simply contact us with your plans.”

“You can either send a sample through the mail or use the collection of samples we already have,” Chumbley said.

Schools can then schedule a session directly from the Web site or give Chumbley a call.

Eight people can be connected to the WebSEM server at a time, but only one is active, and the other seven are just watching, he said.

“People who have used it want to use it again,” Chumbley said. “[Teachers] may even want to book it a week at a time so they can get more work done.”