Collaborative and Project-Based Learning in Analytical Chemistry

Abstract

Collaborative and project-based learning are used to enhance the learning outcomes of undergraduate analytical chemistry courses. The learning outcomes that can be realized through the use of these methods are described. The advantages of these methods in promoting student learning of content, techniques, and other skills such as communication, team work, leadership, and problem solving is discussed. The format that is used in the class and laboratory is described, and examples of the projects that students undertake in the lab are presented.The undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum is often structured into two courses, one generally referred to as quantitative analysis and the other as instrumental analysis. The history of this course structure has been summarized, and both textbooks and changes in the discipline were important in shaping the current situation (1). The textbooks available today for undergraduate analytical chemistry courses generally reinforce the quantitative and instrumental structure. The distinction between quantitative and instrumental methods is a false one as instruments are used to perform quantitative analyses and every quantitative analysis course most likely includes some aspects of instrumentation. A further reality is that the textbooks within these two categories primarily consist of chapters distinguished by the type of analysis method. These books include far more analysis methods than can be reasonably covered in a one-semester course, leaving the instructor with difficult choices to make about what material and methods ought to be covered in the limited amount of available time. 54

STEAM Project-Based Learning Activities at the Science Museum as an Effective Training for Future Chemistry Teachers

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