Hands-on Use of High-Field NMR in a Three-Week Collaborative Learning Laboratory for a Non-Majors Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Chemistry (12) This project brings a collaborative learning experience to more than 800 students per year in organic chemistry laboratories for non-majors at the institution. Students participate in three-week collaborative learning experiments involving realistic scenarios in which students isolate, characterize, and identify an unknown chemical, using a high-field NMR spectrometer, and present their findings in a poster session. Students use methods employed by natural products chemists in modern laboratories and, as part of the identification process, learn to collect and process NMR and FTIR data using state-of-the-art instruments. The challenge of integrating a hands-on NMR experience into a course serving such a large number of students is met by establishing an open instrument laboratory staffed by teaching assistants and by developing a WWW-based scheduling system for small-group training sessions. The collaborative learning exercises are adaptations of approaches published in standard literature and journals.