For over 25 years, Integrated Laboratory has been the signature experience of the Guilford College chemistry major. Each spring, chemistry faculty create research teams that include students who are taking organic chemistry and advanced chemistry laboratory courses such as physical chemistry and inorganic chemistry. Each year's lab has a general research topic at its center (such as chemiluminescence, Heck-Suzuki catalysis of cross-coupling reactions, or oscillating chemical reactions) and each team is charged with developing and executing an original research project in that area. We describe the research skills students develop in this course, with respect both to the science and to being a productive and useful member of a research group. We discuss how success in Integrated Laboratory requires much more than just basic knowledge of the science or even the ability to do good research (although both are essential components). We also focus on the intangible aspects of scientific research: the ability to be a good team member, the understanding of when it’s appropriate to take on a leadership role and how to be a strong leader, and the need to deal with the frustration when everything is not working as well as one would wish. Guilford chemistry majors are required to take Integrated Laboratory two or three times, taking on successively increasing leadership roles and thereby producing a multi-year capstone experience for the major that has at its foundation all the work done in prior chemistry courses. We discuss the setup of Integrated Laboratory, including faculty involvement in managing multiple research teams each with their own project. We also present evidence from alumni interviews about the influence the Integrated Laboratory experience has had in careers in industry, government and academia.

Integrated Laboratory at Guilford College: An authentic research experience for chemistry majors

249th National Meeting (2015)

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