This project involves the assembly of a variety of components (optical and electrical) to create a "spectroscopic workstation" (SW). This workstation is providing teaching-quality versions of a wide range of spectroscopic instruments. This approach allows more efficient, repeated use of equipment, rather than more limited use specialized instrumentation. The use of SW allows the development of a wide range of spectroscopic experiments at lower capital investment per experiment. Thus, the approach is attractive to instructors because it reduces the financial constraints which often limit their creativity. In addition, the SW-approach encourages student not to treat instruments simply as "black boxes". In addition to developing the hardware for the SW, this project is developing a SW-based curricula for instrumental analysis and physical chemistry laboratories. These curricula use SW to reinforce an understanding of how measurements are made, how spectrometers work, and the pelationship between instrument design and measurement quality. Special attention has been given to developing curricula that foster experimental design skills and encourage integration of knowledge from physics, mathematics, and chemistry. This approach should engage students by making them more directly responsible for all components of their laboratory work. The success of this approach is being evaluated by student questionnaires designed to determine the students' perceptions of their learning experience. the results of this project, including laboratory manuals and equipment lists are being made available. *
