The hydrogen spectrum lab is one of the classic experiments in the physical chemistry curriculum.  Despite the simplicity of the chemical system, students can gain deep insight into energy levels, electronic transitions, and spectroscopic parameters.  In this presentation, we discuss our efforts in redesigning this classic experiment into a guided inquiry format.  Working within the Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning-Physical Chemistry Lab (POGIL-PCL) project, we took an existing hydrogen spectrum experiment and overhauled it to emphasize transferrable skills and student decision-making in order to help students discover the scientific content of the experiment.  We will briefly discuss the POGIL-PCL framework in the context of redesigning this experiment, and we will highlight the guided inquiry aspects of the redesigned lab by discussing specific examples of guided inquiry questions within the experiment.

Redesigning the hydrogen spectrum experiment for guided inquiry

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.