The main purpose of these two courses is to introduce students to various techniques and instruments that are basic for effective qualitative and quantitative research in a chemistry laboratory. On average three to four modular experiments are conducted within the semester. Students learn one to two lab techniques in each lab period and complete the whole experiment in three to four lab periods.
A lab report writeup is imposed at the termination of each experiment. It should be noted that students who take CHEM 321 have very limited lab experiences and they are not familiar with technical writing or reading scientific articles. Therefore, care is taken to make this transitional course that prepares inexperienced undergraduates for an inquiry-based CHEM 322 class in the following semester.
As such, CHEM 321 emphasizes on "how to carry out an experiment carefully" and "how to analyze experimental data objectively". In this regard, relatively simple quantitative analytical experiments are executed in classes. However, students are not biased with the "expected results" while conducting their experiments. Instead, the expected outcomes of their labs are instilled as theories and chemical principles governing each lab techniques and experimental designs that are presented in the pre-lab lectures. Through this arrangement, students are urged to make the connection between lectures and practical works on their own and learn how scientific methods are conducted. In the lab reports, students are graded heavily on their abilities to explain their experimental observations, rather than on their "correct outcome".
At the end of CHEM 321, most students have acquired the skills to carry out lab work by following detailed written instructions presented in their lab manuals. In CHEM 322, the written instructions for the lab are comparatively less defined and students are forced to consult their lab textbook to apply similar experimental setup in completing their experiments.
At this stage, most CHEM 322 students function independently and they are expected to address the "whys" in their experimental outcomes and assess the validities of their own results. In this semester, they are graded by their abilities to discuss key experimental observations and interpret their own data based upon pre-lab lecture notes as well as additional information that they look up on their own. In these two labs, I attempt to create an environment where students feel free to express their views and to question both the literature and the instructor. Furthermore,
I hope to teach my students problem solving skills by avoiding rigid experimental guidelines and expected outcome so that they become accustomed to the uncertainties in scientific research. I believe that we each, instructor and students alike, bring to the classroom our experiences and our individual backgrounds. The goal is for all of us to be active participants in the learning process.
