Chemistry majors at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University are required to take an advanced integrated laboratory course, which incorporates biophysical, analytical, and synthetic techniques.  One of the modules in this laboratory course involves method development and validation using GC and LC.  The module runs for four weeks; each week consists of two four-hour lab periods and a one-hour recitation.  Students work in groups of two throughout the module.  The groups are first given the task of developing a method to separate a mixture of three compounds using either GC or LC.  The mixtures include compounds that are commonly found in mixtures including gasoline, pain reliever tablets, and chocolate, and have easy-to-find GC and/or LC methods in the literature.  Students develop a suitable method by determining the efficiency of the separation by calculating capacity factors, number of theoretical plates, and resolution.  They then change variables such as temperature, flow rate, and mobile phase composition to see how the efficiency of the separation is affected.   After the method is optimized, each pair of students mentors a peer group; a group of students developing a method on GC teaches a group who has been using LC how to use the instrument, and vice versa.  The incoming group validates the initial group’s method and uses the validated method to determine concentrations in real samples.  This process allows students to get hands-on experience using two important pieces of instrumentation while maximizing instrument use and lab time.  This talk will include a discussion on the advantages and challenges of this laboratory structure.

Using guided inquiry and peer mentoring in an instrumental analysis lab

254th National Meeting (2017)

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