UV/Vis and UV/Vis/fluorescence microplate readers, instruments that have been used mostly for research and industrial applications, are used to improve the core undergraduate chemistry curriculum. The project comprehensively explores the advantages of these instruments for enhancement of the chemistry curriculum. Laboratory exercises that demonstrate general spectroscopy concepts with both mechanically simple, conventional spectrophotometers and the microplate readers are developed for use at all levels of chemistry courses. One advantage of the microplate reader is the rapid generation of large amounts of data. Students now spend more time on interpretation and presentation of data, skills that translate to all areas of math and science. These instruments are ideally suited for introducing chemical, biochemical, and analytical spectroscopy applications in large enrollment lower division classes and they also provide many advantages for the upper-division laboratory classes and undergraduate research projects. One additional UV/Vis/fluorescence microplate reader is housed at Salish Kootenai College, a Native American Tribal College, to support and enhance ongoing collaborations, including a biochemistry course and undergraduate research. Successful demonstration of the advantages of the proposed instrumentation has a significant impact on how various concepts and methodologies are taught. The instruments are affordable for many institutions, thereby addressing broader impacts and suggesting that the successful pedagogical approaches developed in this project can be adapted nationally.
