Chemistry (12) The goal of the project is to enhance the educational value of the chemistry curriculum by incorporating discovery and inquiry based experiments into laboratory courses. The key component of the project is the integration of the use of a Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (FT-NMR) into the laboratory curriculum, including General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Biochemistry, and special topics courses. Students are engaging in increasingly more sophisticated molecular investigations as they progress through the program. The intellectual merit of the project lies in incorporating research techniques into the curriculum. FT-NMR spectroscopy is recognized as one of the most important and widely used techniques in chemistry, and all chemistry students now have the opportunity to use an NMR spectrometer in the laboratory. The experiments being introduced are adapted from the Journal of Chemical Education and from several laboratory texts, and have been selected to challenge students at all levels to make connections between the theory taught in the classroom and the application of problem solving skills in the laboratory. The incorporation of NMR spectroscopy into the curriculum has significant broader impacts. It is greatly enhancing the discovery and inquiry components of the existing laboratory courses, with a corresponding improvement in the higher order cognitive skills of the students. Students experience the excitement of discovery as they engage in research-based methodology. It is hoped that this will encourage more students to pursue careers in scientific research. The project has a major impact on underrepresented groups, particularly the female students who comprise 75% of the student population at Queens College. The results of the project will be disseminated through the Internet and published in appropriate journals.
