Bridging the gap between graduate research and introductory undergraduate teaching labs offers an opportunity for graduate students to develop pedagogical skills and for undergraduate students to have first-hand experience with research currently being conducted. Data analysis from contemporary research was adapted into an Excel training exercise, requiring undergraduate students to engage with the data by performing a series of analytical tasks guided by commentary from the researcher. The exercise allowed students to practice problem solving in the form of troubleshooting and to learn common data analysis techniques. After reading the primary article, students prepared questions for the graduate student author that were used as a starting point for an in-class discussion of the research findings, techniques, considerations, and future goals. The conversation between general chemistry students and the graduate student researcher was coupled with a tour of the research lab and served to humanize the researcher’s enterprise for the undergraduate students. This activity serves as a model for collaborations between researchers and teaching labs, and the feedback from undergraduate students supports further joint ventures between research and instructional laboratories.

Bringing chemical research into the undergraduate teaching lab: A graduate student perspective

249th National Meeting (2015)

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