An Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Course as Research

Abstract

A research-based inorganic chemistry laboratory course is described. Using the defined protocol of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), students undertake a self-designed research project to identify new catalysts for the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. Students select ligands and metals, prepare and characterize catalysts precursors, develop protocols for catalysts, and screen catalyst precursors. These activities are designed to align with the five components of a CURE (research activities, discovery, relevance, collaboration, and iteration), and this course is presented as one model from which individuals can develop CUREs at their own institutions. The students were assessed with the CURE survey, which showed gains in both research activities and understanding the nature of science.

Something old, something new: Teaching the BMB lab

“…There is a shift in educational culture to bring more open‐ended opportunities into teaching labs 1 . This can be seen in recent publications about course‐based undergraduate research in many areas of biology and chemistry 2–8 . Many instructors have been doing this in BMB lab courses for years.…”

“…1 This can be seen in recent publications about course-based undergraduate research in many areas of biology and chemistry. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Many instructors have been doing this in BMB lab courses for years. Some things remain the same, but some things change.…”

Stimulating Students’ Learning in Analytical Chemistry through an Environmental-Based CURE Project

“…The observed benefits to the students agree with other CURE laboratories in upper-level chemistry courses. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]31 Though publication of research is very important and boosts the selfconfidence of the students involved, the benefits that students gain by engaging in research extend beyond articles published. The most important part of research for an undergraduate student is the transformation that takes place during the research process.…”

Measuring integrated understanding of undergraduate chemistry research experiences: assessing oral and written research artifacts

“…Most previous studies that assess learning outcomes of science research experiences are limited to a description of the research experience or self-report data; fewer studies validate self-reports with analysis of research products, direct measures of mastery of scientific content or practice, or observations of student activities (Linn et al, 2015;National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, 2017;Krim et al, 2019;Lin et al, 2019). Scholars such as Pagano et al (2018) and Stone et al (2020) have commented on the limited number of studies dedicated to examining the impacts of CUREs in chemistry, when compared to the life sciences. Thus, there is a need for additional assessment tools that can be applied to undergraduate research experiences in chemistry, both inside and outside of the classroom.…”