Advancing Undergraduate Chemical Education Through Contextualized Organic Laboratories

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The focus of this project is to develop, implement and evaluate interdisciplinary science education materials, contextualized around the quest for drug discovery to treat neglected diseases. In order to solve this intellectual challenge, students are trained in chemical synthesis, computational analysis and biological evaluation through problem solving in each of these core scientific disciplines. As part of their course work, students gain general literacy regarding the application of science to solving important humanitarian problems, learn about the drug discovery process, use integrated STEM skills, and participate in national and international student and teacher collaborations. Independent professional assessment is part of the project design. Intellectual merit includes development of educational materials that will enable students to learn about the drug discovery process and perform significant research with no predetermined outcome during their undergraduate education. Broader impacts include the self-contained modules of lectures and labs, produced to achieve a readily disseminated, contextualized, multidisciplinary science laboratory experience that are simple, reproducible and inexpensive.