Raman spectroscopy is challenging for students to wrap their heads around and for instructors to teach.  This presentation will describe a spiral approach, used in the undergraduate laboratory curriculum at Boston University, which helps students successfully engage with Raman spectroscopy in the instrumental analysis laboratory.  Central to our educational approach is exploiting new modalities to engage students with primary data and secondary data so that students engage with Raman spectroscopy both in the lab and in the classroom. For example, in class activities and discussions focus on data that students have collected or that the instructor provides. Guided by instructors, student activities include computational exercises and sketching diagrams, hands-on processing of camera images, and in-lab experimentation with Raman and  “non” Raman instrumentation. A spiral curriculum allows for Raman spectroscopy to be presented first in the context of other instrumentation, for example when students are engaged in collecting fluorescence data, and revisited again in the context of other vibrational spectroscopies, such as IR absorption.  We will discuss how we use hands-on interactive activities including accessible-to-all software resources, simple demonstrations and effective video resources.  This presentation will include both instructor and student perspectives on engaging with Raman spectroscopy.<br/>

New educational approaches for student-faculty engagement with Raman spectroscopy

2019 Spring National Meeting

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