Incorporating research-based lab activities into general chemistry at a large university can be challenging, considering the high enrollments and costs typically associated with the courses. Performing sweeping curricular overhauls of the general chemistry laboratory can be difficult, and in some cases discouraged, as many would rather maintain the status quo. This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a research-based lab that fits into a two-hour general chemistry laboratory period. The new lab involves testing an imprinted polymer for removal of heavy-metal ions in wastewater, and both highlights and adds to the current research of a faculty member. Also discussed are the evaluation results of the first three years of implementation in the honors general chemistry lab section. A lab questionnaire was developed to measure effects on students on seven aspects, including learning gains, attitudes toward chemistry, and level of research interest. Evaluation results suggest positive impacts on attitudes toward chemistry and for seeking further research opportunities. This approach can be used as an initial step toward more sweeping research-based curricular changes at the general chemistry level.

Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we describe an approach that combines all three of these methods by integrating environmental research-based activities into the second-year undergraduate analytical chemistry course. We discuss the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of the research-based labs employed during the new summer analytical chemistry course. Students perform environmental investigations of sites on Beaver Island, Michigan, and prepare reports to contribute to an ongoing research project analyzing these locations that began in the 1970s. Preliminary impacts on analytical students were examined using pre-and postsurveys, including the Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire, and a new survey and questionnaires developed for this work. Responses and grades were compared across three summers, and to those from students in the traditional analytical course. Results suggest that the research-based activities positively impacted aspects of student attitudes, their perceptions of how chemistry knowledge influences understanding of environment issues, and their perceptions of how analytical techniques are applied in the real-world. Students indicated that the new labs provided real-world applications of class content, helped them learn new concepts and gain skills working with others, and helped them feel more confident conducting chemistry-related experiments. ■ INTRODUCTIONAnalytical chemistry offers unique challenges in motivating students; the entire course requires continued fluency in algebra and students can easily be overwhelmed with its breadth and complexity of topics. Conveying a relationship between the content and the real-world is a crucial factor in increasing student motivation and attitudes toward the subject. 1,2 The integration of environmental topics provides a great opportunity to illustrate the relevancy of the content and its real life applications. 3−8 The incorporation of research-based activities into the chemistry laboratory has been shown to have positive impacts on student attitudes and skills. 9−20 Furthermore, projects with service learning components are known to have positive effects on student outcomes including student critical thinking skills, efficacy for civic engagement, and the ability to integrate theory and experience. 21−27 We wondered how the combination of these approaches for incorporating environmental issues, research activities, and service learning would affect analytical chemistry students. We previously described the preliminary impacts of a researchbased lab in our honors general chemistry laboratory, and now we have expanded the work to the undergraduate analytical chemistry course. 28 In this paper we discuss the developm...

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A collection of chemistry-related sports online resources is presented. Sources discuss a variety of topics, including the recent nanotechnology advances that improve sports equipment, and the athlete's nutrition and metabolism.