Introducing Elements of Inquiry and Experimental Design in the First Year of an Undergraduate Laboratory Program

Abstract

This work further implements the "elements of inquiry" approach in a first-year undergraduate laboratory course, in a two-part inquiry sequence. In the first part of the sequence, students iteratively develop a "best-practice" TLC procedure. In the second part, students iteratively optimize a simple organic reaction using TLC, making experimental design choices within a controlled environment. The work has been well-received by students and instructors, as a reflection of real-world research challenges introduced at a first-year level.

A Specifications-Graded, Spice-Themed, General Chemistry Laboratory Course Using an Argument-Driven Inquiry Approach

“…Project #2 focuses on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and serves as a building block for later experiments. TLC is a separation technique widely employed in industry and laboratory courses. − Food-based analytes such as essential oils have been used for undergraduate TLC experiments since they are common, inexpensive, and often contain a mixture of organics for separation. , Inquiry-based TLC experiments have also been utilized, though these experiments are generally limited to factors modulating TLC performance. ,, …”

“…41,42 Inquiry-based TLC experiments have also been utilized, though these experiments are generally limited to factors modulating TLC performance. 38,43,44 In the FS session, students are tasked to determine the best eluent to achieve good TLC separation of the provided standards: carvone, cinnamaldehyde, dihydrocarveol, eugenol, limonene, and vanillin. The eluents are of variable polarity, consisting of 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, or 3:2 heptane:acetone.…”

Loopholed Scripts: A New Inquiry Approach for the Undergraduate Laboratory

“…It is remarkably like Level 0 of the previous rubric; however, at this level, students oversee deriving conclusions upon finishing the experiment. This rubric has also been employed in several works recently published in this journal. − . In Table , we detail how the authors relate openness levels with the characteristics of inquiry activities.…”

Enabling general chemistry students to take part in experimental design activities

“…Undergraduate chemistry majors might typically have opportunities to engage in experimental design in a capstone research experience, but there are many courses throughout the typical undergraduate chemistry program in which such opportunities might be embedded. Various reports describing initiatives to introduce experimental design into courses in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum have appeared in the literature, including recent examples involving general chemistry (Farley et al, 2021;Smallwood et al, 2021;Thomson and Lamie, 2022), analytical chemistry (Doughan and Shahmuradyan, 2022), and biochemistry (Goodey and Talgar, 2016).…”

“…One of these recent examples incorporated designing and executing experiments within the context of project-based learning (Doughan and Shahmuradyan, 2022), with projectbased learning activities requiring students to design their own procedures, analyze their own data, and propose claims, arguments, and explanations (Carmel et al, 2019). The other recent examples incorporated designing and executing experiments within the context of inquiry-based learning (Goodey and Talgar, 2016;Farley et al, 2021;Smallwood et al, 2021;Thomson and Lamie, 2022), with inquiry-based laboratory activities requiring students to provide some or all of the various laboratory components including the problem/question, theory/background, procedure/design, results analysis, results communication, and conclusions (Bruck et al, 2008).…”