Laboratory Course Integrating Synthetic and Biomacromolecules

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Engineering - Materials Science (57) Our recently developed undergraduate laboratory course has been designed to provide a balanced and integrated treatment of synthetic and biomacromolecules, while providing students with essential hands-on experience in their synthesis and analysis. Our course has relevance for undergraduate programs in polymer and materials science. In addition, such laboratory exercises also have value in either organic or physical chemistry lab courses, in which the integration of fundamental chemical concepts can be demonstrated using intrinsically interesting materials: macromolecules. Our pedagogical approach for the course is to convey the macromolecular concept, that the science and engineering of macromolecules can be presented as a set of general principles and fundamentals, regardless of source. We have achieved these objectives by creating a suite of new multicomponent laboratory experiments, each with a dual purpose: (1) introduce a particular macromolecular concept, and (2) introduce one or more particular laboratory techniques. Each of these laboratories will be developed around macromolecules derived from both synthetic and biosynthetic pathways. A special feature of the new course has been molecular modeling of macromolecules as an undergraduate laboratory exercise, thus providing students with an avenue for conducting experiments even if they find themselves without access to traditional laboratory facilities. If faculty wish to adopt our course we have created a laboratory manual textbook, complete with introductory material, detailed experimental procedures, and supporting reference materials as a comprehensive set of appendices. Through our laboratory course, undergraduates have built firm foundations for industrial practice, graduate education, and graduate research in macromolecular science and engineering.