Ion Chromatography: Water Analysis in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum

一个离子色谱系统被用来引入实验模块，涉及水质测量到第一年的普通化学，化学基础，定量分析和环境化学的实验室组成部分。这些应用程序与我们的本科生有关，因为它们涉及人类活动如何影响自然环境的直接测量。一年级学生正在学习一个实验室模块，其主题是分析自然地表水系统，他们正在使用这个模块来发展实验室中的分析技能。高年级的学生正在获得知识和经验的一个重要的新的分析仪器，广泛用于工业，研究和政府实验室。学生们还将测试他们将基本化学原理应用于复杂系统的能力，以及他们处理和解释数据的能力。 使用离子色谱系统，完全能够分析各种水样中的阳离子和阴离子，提高了学生的实验室经验，因为它取代了湿化学方法，这是劳动密集型和耗时。这些模块对我们的实验室课程的影响正在通过比较学生的动机和学习这些实验与学习，从更传统的实验结果进行评估。

An ion chromatography system is being used to introduce experimental modules involving water quality measurements into the laboratory component of first-year General Chemistry, Fundamentals of Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, and Environmental Chemistry. These applications are relevant to our undergraduate students since they involve direct measurements of how human activities affect the natural environment. First-year students are being introduced to a laboratory module whose theme is the analysis of natural surface water systems and they are using this module to develop analytical skills in the laboratory. Upper-class students are gaining knowledge of and experience with an important new analytical instrument which is widely used in industry, research, and government laboratories. Students also are being tested on their ability to apply basic chemical principles to complex systems, and their ability to process and interpret data. Use of the ion chromatography system, fully capable of analyzing cations and anions in a variety of water samples, is enhancing the student laboratory experience since it supersedes wet chemical methods which are both labor intensive and time consuming. The impact that these modules have on our laboratory curriculum is being assessed by comparing the students' motivation and learning in such experiments with the learning which results from more traditional experiments.