Crystal Growth: A Research Module for the Undergraduate Organic Laboratory

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Chemistry (12) The specific goal of this project is to creatively integrate teaching and research efforts by developing and implementing a new problem-based crystal growth module in the organic laboratory curriculum. The project adapts international research efforts to achieve chiral separations by means of crystal growth in gel media to an undergraduate laboratory course. In the module being developed here, each student is participating in an authentic research study in which modified PVA polymers are synthesized, their gelation behavior qualitatively assessed, and the gel's ability to effect crystallization-based chiral separations quantitatively investigated. This sequence takes students through a natural scientific learning process where straightforward textbook synthesis leads to inquiry-based problem solving and then to real-world application. Because this interdisciplinary module is ideally suited to large (>150 student) introductory organic courses, each student is afforded the opportunity to be an active participant in a real research project at an early stage of their education, a key factor for retaining student interest in science. A comprehensive evaluation plan consisting of anonymous surveys and focused interview sessions for this project is being executed with the help of colleagues at Georgetown's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship. Broad dissemination of the outcomes of this module will be achieved through conference presentations, publications, and free online access to all written materials pertaining to the module. Undergraduate students are playing an integral role in the module development and well over a hundred are benefiting from its initial implementation alone. The easy modifiability of PVA and unlimited number of crystal systems to investigate ensures that this module can be used repeatedly over multiple years, both at Georgetown and at other undergraduate institutions, each time generating novel research-quality data. The cumulative scientific data generated by the module will help to address key questions regarding crystal growth in viscous media and is certain to have a broad and positive impact on the field of solid state chemistry as a whole.