Upperclassmen in the sciences need to spend both lecture and laboratory time learning how new information is obtained and how to design and interpret experiments. The laboratory must provide them with experience in as many major techniques as possible, performed with modern instruments. The college is purchasing a modern ultraviolet- visible spectrophotometer with computerized data treatment capabilities. This versatile instrument is being used to perform kinetics and thermodynamics experiments, determine the concentrations of a wide variety of solutions, record spectra, and manipulate the resulting data. The instrument is being used in courses in Instrumental Analysis, Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Genetics, and Cell Biology. In each course, students are learning to solve at least one laboratory problem and to use the techniques to solve other problems they will face in graduate school and on the job. The grantee is matching the award from non-Federal sources.
