The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of undergraduate chemistry laboratory training for an annual average of 1,800 academically heterogeneous students by incorporating a computerized general chemistry laboratory in the curriculum. New experiments are being added to the current laboratory program. This project also includes the acquisition of 12 microcomputer systems, a file server, network software, 12 LabWorks Interface for data acquisition and control, Excel 5.0 for Windows, an internal modem, and a printer. The LabWorks Interface system provides the basic hardware and software for data acquisition and management along with eight various probes. These additions allow for an increase in the number of student applications using instruments interfaced with computers, allowing computers to perform the memory and computational skill to free students to perform intellectual problem solving. Furthermore, students have access to computers early in the curricula, so that those in the preparatory chemistry course using computers for coursework (including graphing, reporting, and data analysis) will continue to utilize computers in the subsequent courses, each building on the skills and applications learned in the previous course. Finally, this project promotes active involvement of the students in the laboratory about the process of science as well as the concepts. Students work together in a group on open-ended experiments to practice experimental design, data collection and analysis, summarizing, and reporting.
