9451553 Poston The goal of this proposal is the development of a laboratory component requiring students to solve problems utilizing multiple laboratory techniques. An advanced laboratory course will be developed in which students draw upon laboratory skills acquired in general, organic, analytical, and instrumental analysis to solve problems posed in real life scenarios that simulate investigations a laboratory chemist might encounter. The students will gain experience in developing problem-solving approaches, obtaining and preparing samples for analysis, analyzing data collected from several techniques, determining the relevance of collected data, and articulating the results of an investigation in a format appropriate to the type of inquiry. The investigations will rely heavily on such instrumental techniques as gas chromatography (GC), high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AA), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and mass spectroscopy (MS). This proposal requests funds for the acquisition of the GC-MS system, graphite furnace (AA applications) and ion specific electrodes necessary to enable implementation of this course. Use of the requested equipment will not be restricted to the advanced laboratory course described in this proposal. The GC-MS system will be used throughout our program. It will be introduced in general chemistry and extensively used in organic and instrumental analysis. The graphite furnace will be used in instrumental analysis and the ion selective electrodes in the general, analytical and instrumental courses. It is anticipated that about 150 students per year will gain direct experience with this equipment.
