While extremely powerful and flexible, benchtop Raman spectrometers can be expensive, making introducing Raman spectroscopy into the curriculum difficult, especially at small schools with limited budgets.  The advent of portable Raman spectrometers has not only greatly reduced the cost of instrumentation, but it opens the possibility of sharing a single Raman instrument between multiple schools.  This talk will describe a collaborative project between Hood College, Mount St. Mary’s University, and Frederick Community College (two four-year schools and a community college) that used shared portable instrumentation, including a Raman spectrometer, to greatly increase the instrumentation available at all three schools.  Using portable instrumentation allowed the instruments to be brought to the students, rather than trying to bring the students to the instruments.  Each institution developed a number of laboratory experiments, activities, and demonstrations involving Raman spectroscopy, allowing the use of Raman in all levels of the undergraduate curriculum, from non-majors chemistry courses to senior-level physical chemistry courses.  Raman spectroscopy has also been introduced into courses from a number of other disciplines, including biology, geology, and physics.  An overview of the progression of Raman spectroscopy experiences at Hood College will be included.

Expanding access to Raman spectroscopy using portable instrumentation

2019 Spring National Meeting

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