Students in a typical instrumental analysis course may learn more than 30 analytical techniques. There are more than 150 components associated with the instrumentation that they learn. To help students organize this large amount of information, we classified these components into four categories: sources, samples, discriminators, and detectors. In…

The purpose of this study is to find out what students in the first chemistry course at the undergraduate level (general chemistry for science majors) know about the affordances of instrumentation used in the general chemistry laboratory and how their knowledge develops over time. Overall, students see the PASCO(TM) system as a useful and accurate…

Discusses the feasibility of using fermenters in secondary school laboratories. Includes discussions of equipment, safety, and computer interfacing. Describes how a simple fermenter could be used to simulate large-scale processes. Concludes that, although teachers and technicians will require additional training, the prospects for biotechnology in…

Voltammetry is used as a model for teaching chemical instrumentation to chemistry undergraduates at the National University of Singapore. Lists six criteria used to select a successful teaching model and shows how voltammetry satisfies each criterion. (JN)

One undergraduate chemistry laboratory at the California Institute of Technology is described, including goals of the laboratory curriculum: (1) emphasis on modern instrumental methods of analysis, separation, and characterization; (2) integration of organic/inorganic experiments; and (3) preparing students in two years to begin work in a research…

Explores questions, dilemmas, and issues facing individuals who teach and/or development undergraduate curricula in chemical instrumentation. Areas addressed include the instrumental analysis course, the laboratory, the role of electronics, and computer use. (JN)

This study designed the Environmental Chemistry Value Preference (ECVP) instrument to assess the value preferences of college non-science majors with respect to certain aspects of environmental chemistry and used the instrument to obtain the value preferences of various groups of non-science majors who had completed some chemistry courses. (BT)

How to move science-based labs online has been one of the main obstacles associated with the development of online science programs. In the spring of 2006 and again in 2007, we organized online workshops broadly based around the central theme of Moving the Lab Online. The objective of these workshops was to provide a forum for the exchange of…

Describes an advanced high school chemistry course that exposes students to a wide variety of modern, realistic instrumental techniques. The laboratory syllabus for the course (which uses the textbook "Organic Chemistry" by Morrison and Boyd) is included. (JN)

Describes an experiment combining qualitative and quantitative information from hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Reviews theory, discusses the experimental approach, and provides sample results. (JM)

For colleges/universities, rapid instrument development poses a dilemma, since laboratory teaching instruments rapidly become obsolete and money available for replacing them is dwindling. Discusses role of sophisticated computer simulations, nontraditional educational materials, and part-time work-study opportunities as possible solutions to the…

Microcomputers are commonly interfaced to external devices in scientific, industrial, and consumer settings for data acquisition and for control. The general problem under consideration is the task of taking measurements of some continuous phenomenon, transforming them into digital form, and storing the data in the microcomputer for later use.…

Describes three situations in which computer software was used in a chemistry laboratory. Discusses interfacing voltage output instruments with Apple II computers and using spreadsheet programs to simulate gas chromatography and analysis of kinetic data. Includes information concerning procedures, hardware, and software used in each situation. (CW)

Describes an experiment on a coupled system in which accurate timing is carried out using a Light Activated Switch (LAS) technique. LAS can be used for a wide range of periodic phenomena, provided the amplitude is sufficiently large to interrupt a light beam. (Author/SK)

Presents a chemical instrumentation laboratory experiment that introduces the methodology of the fabrication and evaluation of an ion-selective electrode. (CS)