Many introductory chemistry classes enroll a variety of students including  non-chemistry majors. In response to this, innovative laboratories that aid in helping students learn hands-on skills and relevant material have been implemented in a large lecture general chemistry course designed primarily for agriculture and health science majors. Two labs were redesigned and implemented that related more directly to students' respective fields, one involving the extraction of fat from snack foods and the other involving the analysis of wine.  The goals for these labs included learning psychomotor skills as well as concepts relevant to the agricultural and health sciences. In the extraction of fat lab, for example, emphasis was placed on interpreting the nutrition label information and comparing it to analyses carried out with data collected in lab. Introducing these skills resulted in a more dynamic and relevant lab curriculum for students.

Fat, sugar, alcohol, oh my! The incorporation of food science into introductory chemistry lab curriculum

246th National Meeting (2013)

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