Cross-Course Collaboration in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum

Indiana State University, Terre Haute IN

Investigators

Abstract

The Department of Chemistry is implementing the use of a gas chromatograph-mass (GCMS) capable of electron impact (EI) and chemical ionization (CI) modes and capable of tandem mass spectrometry (MSMS). This instrument is an important analytical tool for use in chemistry, especially in environmental, pharmaceutical, and biochemical applications. This instrument is being used to support experiments in the fields of organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry and is impacting four undergraduate courses including materials exchange between courses and a cross-course collaboration between the sophomore organic and physical chemistry laboratories. Students are carrying out kinetic isotope effects in a chemical reaction, regioselectivity in the Bayer Villager oxidation, selective reduction of limonene with Wilkinson's Catalyst, chemical ionization MS and Tandem Mass Spectrometry, and enantioselective epoxidation using Jacobsen's catalyst. The instrument also is used in undergraduate research for projects that include natural product isolation and synthesis and organic synthesis. These projects involve 5-10 undergraduate research students per year, while the course-related projects involve 90-120 undergraduate students per year. Students from a neighboring women's college, Saint Mary of the Woods College, which does not have an instrument of its own, also use the instrument. Further, high school teachers from nearby schools participate with students in a program involving GCMS headspace analysis of fruit candy and mint leaves as a chemical "sniffer." Intellectual Merit. The use of hands-on GCMS in the curriculum introduces the undergraduate students to this common analytical tool for chemical analysis and allows students to address scientific questions from an early point in their learning. The outreach programs to high school students illustrate the use of GCMS as a tool to identify volatile substances. GCMS practice and theory is introduced in Sophomore Organic laboratory for analysis of isotopic labeling and structure elucidation. Advanced applications of chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry are introduced in the Advanced Organic laboratory. Organic and physical chemistry students collaborate via exchange of materials and data from isotopic labeling and kinetic isotope effect experiments including presentations by students to each group. Exchanges take place between the Sophomore Organic and the Inorganic laboratories, as well as between the Inorganic and Advanced Organic laboratories, from materials that are passed between courses. These interactions promote ownership of materials and data as well as conceptual connections between the courses, including the idea that compounds can be isolated or synthesized for pragmatic purposes, as well as for answering chemical questions (regioselectivity/reaction mechanism). The expected outcome of this experience is students who are more engaged by seeing the connections between content in their courses and its importance. Also, students are expected to be more prepared by hands on experience, obtaining needed skills for graduate and professional studies or industrial chemical careers. Broader Impacts. The use of this instrument is having a significant impact on the educational and research infrastructure of the department and the institution. Access to modern state-of-the-art instrumentation is critical to curricular and research training in the department. The department has a long history of undergraduate research and nearly all of the graduates have been involved in some form of undergraduate research. Indiana State University has the second largest percentage of minority students in Indiana and serves a large proportion of female students.