Throughout the General Chemistry laboratory curriculum a common weakness is the way in which students record and manipulate numerical data.  From initial measurement with different digital and analog instruments to proper conversions, calculations and comparisons the inability to understand numerical data makes teaching the underlying scientific principles increasingly difficult.  Additionally, the start of any General Chemistry 1 course involves a period of familiarization with the scientific method, significant figures, and elements of atomic structure that do not correlate well with laboratory experimentation.  We have developed an experiment aimed at the first weeks of a General Chemistry laboratory that emphasizes measurement techniques, accuracy, average value calculations and uncertainty of measurement calculations.  A separate version of this experiment can also be done that measures time vs. mass change for graphical analysis.  This modification allows the experiment to be done in shorter periods of time while also affording student-generated data for teaching spreadsheet use, data processing, and linear regression.  Instructor feedback indicates significant improvement in student's abilities to take data and properly analyze that data after performing this experiment.  Student survey and feedback data as well as experimental design and data will be presented.

Hydration of decorative hydrogel beads: An exercise in data taking, calculations, and proper graphing of data

247th National Meeting (2014)

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