The Department of Chemistry is using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) across the undergraduate chemistry lab curriculum in a series of research-oriented, problem-based labs. The objectives of this program are to develop a lab curriculum that is appropriate for a wide range of student interests by placing students in the role of investigator; to increase student (especially women and minority) interest in chemistry by allowing them to use modern instrumentation in the study of relevant problems early in the chemistry lab curriculum; and to allow students to use state-of-the-art instrumentation for increasingly sophisticated experiments through all their years of chemistry study. The problem-based approach has already been introduced in the general chemistry lab, and the GC/MS makes possible the development of additional research-oriented lab modules. Undergraduate students use the GC/MS in problem-based experiments beginning with general chemistry and continue to use it for organic chemistry, instrumental analysis, environmental chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and finally, for chemistry majors, a senior research project. This results in students who, first, have a sense of how modern science is done, how scientists know what they know about molecules, and how powerful a tool modern instrumentation is and, second, have developed critical thinking skills by being active participants in the planning and execution of experiments.
