Hand-held Tools for Hands-on Learning

From essential tools used in the field to high-tech analytical devices used in the lab, the Learn by Doing Endowment provides funding for hand-held technology that packs a big punch when it comes to hands-on learning.

The Learn by Doing Endowment has funded:

  • Immersion blenders and chocolate molds for students in food productions labs.
  • Eight drones capable of 3D imaging for a new drone survey class in the BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department.
  • Submersible pumps used for groundwater sampling and aquifer testing in the Introduction to Earth and Soil Science course.
  • Hand-held HD video cameras used in upper division agricultural communication courses.
  • Additional Ankom gas production modules that expand available equipment in the animal nutrition lab and allow students to evaluate the nutritional value of specific feeds relative to time spent in the rumen.
  • Gimbal camera stabilizers, boom mics, lighting and other equipment to enhance visual storytelling, create video packages and develop other video content supporting research.
  • A bacteria and fungi prepared microscope slide set and plant DNA extraction kits to provide students with hands on experience in molecular plant pathology.
  • Hand-held penetrometers and field refractometers used to evaluate soil compaction, tilth and crop health.
  • Riker display cases featuring a comprehensive collection of invasive plant and weed species.
  • Handheld measuring instruments including clinometers, compasses and diameter tapes used by forestry students to measure tree height and diameter, topographic incline and more.
  • Research-grade dissecting microscopes capable of taking digital photos of specimens for students studying postharvest technology and plant pathology.
  • A handheld i-STAT blood analysis machine which provides rapid, point-of-care analysis of glucose, calcium and other serum tests in equine and bovine blood samples will be used by students in animal physiology and veterinary science labs.
  • Five TopCon digital surveying levels used by more than 450 bioresource and agricultural engineering students each year.

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