Seeding the Laboratory Curriculum In Physical and AnalyticalChemistry with Interdisciplinary Applications

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Through this project, the university is seeding its upper-division undergraduate laboratory courses in physical and analytical chemistry with selected interdisciplinary applications. Faculty expertise is being used to develop new applications that demonstrate the role of chemical measurements in addressing topical problems in biological chemistry, materials chemistry, and environmental chemistry. Students enrolled in Instrumental Methods of Analysis are using fluorescent probes of species in biological and environmental matrices. In Physical Chemistry Laboratory I students are performing calorimetric measurements on liquid crystalline materials of interest in biological chemistry (synthetic biomembranes) and in materials chemistry (liquid crystal display materials). In Physical Chemistry Laboratory II students are using fluorescence methods to explore complex formation on chemical models of active enzyme sites. By offering students the opportunity to perform measurements on chemical systems that are in the broad public view and of direct relevance to society, the university is motivating its diverse student population. These experiments are providing opportunities for investigations on more complex chemical systems than those typically studied in undergraduate laboratory curricula. The department is purchasing two fluorescence spectrophotometers, one fluorescence detector for the HPLC, and two differential scanning calorimeters. This instrumentation is essential for developing and implementing these new applications. The impact that these new applications have on student motivation and chemical reasoning provides a rational guide to furthering curricular development at colleges and universities.