The traditional undergraduate analytical chemistry sequence at Concordia College has been redesigned with a primary focus on modern instrumentation and project-based laboratories. Students in the first-semester laboratory course rotate through six different instruments, then complete a student-designed project that involves the quantitative determination of one or more analytes in a real-world sample. The second semester then continues this emphasis on instrumentation with the introduction of electronic circuitry, LabVIEW programming, and advanced topics in electrochemistry, separations, and spectroscopy. Critical to the success of this redesign has been the use of online resources to foster active learning while promoting confidence and independence in the laboratory. These resources include an online laboratory manual with embedded videos for each procedural step, an online edited journal to "publish" the results of the student projects, a self-paced LabVIEW programming tutorial, LabVIEW simulations of fundamental topics in instrumentation, and electronic laboratory notebooks for more efficient record keeping and idea exchange. The format of both courses will be described along with the various online tools, and assessment results will be presented related to gains in student learning.

Development of online resources to promote active learning in analytical chemistry

249th National Meeting (2015)

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