The immediate goal of this project is to introduce a set of computer- assisted laboratory experiments for NMR spectroscopy which will in turn increase the computer literacy of undergraduate students as they proceed through the chemistry program at Roosevelt University. The project uses a 60-MHz continuous wave NMR spectrometer, an instrument common to many laboratory courses and one which has easily accessible external connections for data acquisition and instrument control. The availability of the extensive ASYST laboratory software package for IBM microcomputers with high-resolution graphics allows students to analyze spectra in a number of ways, and prepares students to use the more expensive laboratory workstations commonly found in industrial and academic research laboratories. This software allows students to focus immediately on analyzing data rather than setting up and programming equipment. The project will provide at least one computerized laboratory experiment in each laboratory course from Organic Chemistry to Laboratory Microcomputer Systems. Since the computerized experiments appear in each upper-division laboratory course, the majority of the 200 chemistry students will have computer experience every semester rather than in a single concentrated course. The series of NMR spectroscopy experiments will give each student the opportunity to operate comfortably and proficiently a laboratory workstation for acquisition, analysis, and presentation of data. The flexibility of the hardware and software allows future projects to computerize other laboratory instruments and develop similar sets of laboratory experiments.
