Undergraduate analytical chemistry courses emphasize fundamental stoichiometric and physicochemical analytical techniques with statistical analysis and linear calibrations. Higher-level data analysis techniques may not be included in the college junior-level curriculum, but widely available software enables more complex analysis to be accessible. In this work, activities to train students in multicomponent spectral curve fitting (using Microsoft Excel’s Solver) and utilizing matrix algebra were incorporated within a large-enrollment undergraduate analytical chemistry lecture setting. When analyzing multiple compounds in solutions without separation pretreatment, both curve-fitting and classical matrix approaches are valuable techniques for students to understand and execute using commercially available software. When hands-on activities, multimedia screencasts, and in-class data collection and analysis were implemented, students were trained to employ these advanced analysis methods. The efficacy of the in-class practical activities was assessed with pre- and post-test instruments that quantified gains in learning outcomes. Inclusion of such activities will empower students with an expanded repertoire of these important analytical methods and their applications with a real world, portable, active-learning approach that can be completed in a lecture setting with nonhazardous samples.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.