UWG
News Item
Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
CSI-UWG Class
September 14, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - Crime scene tape and chalk outlines of bodies on campus does not mean there has been a crime spree at the University of West Georgia. A new class this fall, CSI: UWG, is allowing college freshmen to “do” math and science in an innovative way.
Like
the investigators on the popular television show CSI, students are collecting
evidence, dusting for fingerprints, identifying blood and soil types,
building 3-D models of crime scenes, and writing investigative reports
as the apply the sciences and math to solve a series of “staged”
crimes on campus.
Dr. Victoria Geisler, assistant dean in UWG’s College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of chemistry, and Dr. Deborah Lea-Fox, associate professor of biology, are coordinating the discovery-based class which is being taught by nine faculty members from the science and math departments.
The class is just one initiative funded at West Georgia by an $877,000 “Generating Enthusiasm for Math and Science” grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Geisler explained that the students will display what they have learned throughout the semester at a mock trial by testifying as expert witnesses or questioning the expert witness in a courtroom setting.
Students will combine chemistry, biology, geology and math skills as they solve crimes. An example of the new techniques students will experience will be DNA typing.
“Initially, DNA samples that were small or degraded were beyond the reach of DNA-typing techniques,” Lea-Fox explained. “Now a revolutionary process called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, permits the faithful reproduction of small amounts of DNA. PCR makes it possible to use DNA from a coffee cup or even a single hair root to conduct testing.”
Other technological advances UWG students will experience will be image-enhancing equipment such as the Geosciences Department’s Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), which can magnify objects 100,000 times and is used to analyze soil, fabric and gunpowder residues.
The Chemistry Department’s Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS permits the detection of alcohol and drugs, such as barbiturates, cocaine, amphetamines and heroin.
“Whether it is DNA, soil, drugs or other evidence, technology is giving us new tools that are helping to solve crimes and our students are receiving first-hand experience,” Geisler noted.
While some people might think a bloody mock crime scene on campus would be upsetting for college freshmen, given recent episodes of violence in schools, college students and professors disagree.
“This class teaches college freshmen the risks of committing a crime,” Geisler said. “We’re not teaching them to be criminals. If anything, they learn that you can never cover your tracks because there are too many ways to solve a crime.”
How are the students reacting to the class?
Sasha Harvey, a freshman from Columbus, said she jumped at the chance to be in the class.
“I
plan to major in chemistry and I’m a big fan of CSI,” she
said. “This class combines those two interests.”
Kristie Nichelson from Calhoun enjoys the forensic use of science and
math to solve crimes, and Christie Peisel from Peachtree City said the
class is opening new ways to use biology other than the medical fields.
The NSF grant is aimed at increasing enrollment and retention of students in the disciplines of biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, geosciences, mathematics and physics.
The CSI/UWG class is one of several hands-on, discovery-based courses and lab activities that will focus around a theme that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Other classes will focus on the design of amusement parks and roller coasters, and the sciences involved in homeland security and combating bioterrorism.
For more information on the CSI/UWG class or the Generating Enthusiasm for Math and Science grant, contact Geisler at 770-836- 6407.
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