TY - JOUR
T1 - Island explorations
T2 - Discovering effects of environmental research-based lab activities on analytical chemistry students
AU - Tomasik, Janice Hall
AU - LeCaptain, Dale
AU - Murphy, Sarah
AU - Martin, Mary
AU - Knight, Rachel M.
AU - Harke, Maureen A.
AU - Burke, Ryan
AU - Beck, Kara
AU - Acevedo-Polakovich, I. David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
PY - 2014/11/11
Y1 - 2014/11/11
N2 - Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we describe an approach that combines all three of these methods by integrating environmental research-based activities into the second-year undergraduate analytical chemistry course. We discuss the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of the research-based labs employed during the new summer analytical chemistry course. Students perform environmental investigations of sites on Beaver Island, Michigan, and prepare reports to contribute to an ongoing research project analyzing these locations that began in the 1970s. Preliminary impacts on analytical students were examined using pre- and postsurveys, including the Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire, and a new survey and questionnaires developed for this work. Responses and grades were compared across three summers, and to those from students in the traditional analytical course. Results suggest that the research-based activities positively impacted aspects of student attitudes, their perceptions of how chemistry knowledge influences understanding of environment issues, and their perceptions of how analytical techniques are applied in the real-world. Students indicated that the new labs provided real-world applications of class content, helped them learn new concepts and gain skills working with others, and helped them feel more confident conducting chemistry-related experiments.
AB - Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we describe an approach that combines all three of these methods by integrating environmental research-based activities into the second-year undergraduate analytical chemistry course. We discuss the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of the research-based labs employed during the new summer analytical chemistry course. Students perform environmental investigations of sites on Beaver Island, Michigan, and prepare reports to contribute to an ongoing research project analyzing these locations that began in the 1970s. Preliminary impacts on analytical students were examined using pre- and postsurveys, including the Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire, and a new survey and questionnaires developed for this work. Responses and grades were compared across three summers, and to those from students in the traditional analytical course. Results suggest that the research-based activities positively impacted aspects of student attitudes, their perceptions of how chemistry knowledge influences understanding of environment issues, and their perceptions of how analytical techniques are applied in the real-world. Students indicated that the new labs provided real-world applications of class content, helped them learn new concepts and gain skills working with others, and helped them feel more confident conducting chemistry-related experiments.
KW - Analytical Chemistry
KW - Environmental Chemistry
KW - Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives
KW - Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning
KW - Laboratory Instruction
KW - Qualitative Analysis
KW - Quantitative Analysis
KW - Second-Year Undergraduate
KW - Undergraduate Research
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U2 - 10.1021/ed5000313
DO - 10.1021/ed5000313
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84922471262
SN - 0021-9584
VL - 91
SP - 1887
EP - 1894
JO - Journal of Chemical Education
JF - Journal of Chemical Education
IS - 11
ER -