W. C. Tucker, Jr. Louisiana State University in N e w Orleans, 70122
An Integrated Six- or Seven-Semester Laboratory Course
In an attempt to help students realize that chemistry is a single discipline in which the various areas" (inorganic, organic, etc.) are actually interrelated and interlocking parts, the Department of Chemistry a t LSUNO has undertaken a new approach to the undergraduate laboratory instruction. This new concept cuts across the classical, artificial separation into general, qualitative, quantitative, etc., and presents the laboratory work as an ever-deepening experience in laboratory operations and manipulations. This will bc prcscnted as a six- or seven-semester continuous course.
Identificaliun of unknown acid by determination of ianioalion coustant aud equivaleut weight Rate of decomposition of sodiim hypochlorite
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Proposed Seven-Semester Laboratory Course Scmestcr Msin Emphasis Basic principles of laboratory operations First We1 analysis, equilibl.ia Second Third Elemeutary instrumel~tala d y s i s (spcctrometry, polal.ography, etc.) Fowth Chcmicnl pi.operties and syllthesis-i~lorga~~ic and ol.ganic Fifth Advanced synthesis Sixi.h Synthesis m d analysis Seventh Instr~~mezllal mcthods
The first two scmestcrs have been worked out in more detail and arc as folloms: Revised Laboratory-First
Year
Fimt Somesler. Pel.iods (Ilwk) 1 2
I 2
1 2
1 1
Fnmilia~~iaalinn with lahot.ntory safety, glass working, b~wnel.s,etc. Use of the balance, detct.mitmlim of melting poil~t, boiling point, density, refractive i w der Identification of inrknow~r-by w e of ahuve Fxmiliarisatiotl with prwifiratio~isby dist,illation, ~~cerystallisntiut~, solvent extractiuo, filtl'aiian Separalio~tand identificsiion of a mixttwe Equivalent weight of all unknown acid; t i t w tian; preparatirm of sul~tiolm Vr,lumet~.icchlorido doterminnlion. (Volhard method) Eq,tilibl.itun eonstanl of itrdieato~.-colorimetry ((~:r,lr,t.comparison)
Second Semester Periods (2/wk) 6
Cation analysis (limited) Anion analysis (limited) Functional group analysis Gmvimetrie sulfate Solubility product constant (AgBfls) O x i d a t i a ~ l - r e d c t studies i ltedox litration Synthesis and analysis of coordination compounds Complete analysis of unknown-qualitative and quantitative Radio chemistry-separatiu~~ of isobars I*, 5, Ce-YtPr
At LSUNO the lecture and laboratory portionsof our chemistry courses are separate; the student receives a grade in each just as if they were two completely different courses. Under the new approach no attempt is made to correlate the laboratory work and the classroom presentation; instead, an hour of lecture each week is part of the laboratory course. This lecture is more sophisticated and theoretical than the usual simple instruct,ions for conducting an experiment. Obviously one can not cover all the theoretical background needed in one hour per week, and therefore, we do endeavor to keep the experiments relatively within range of the students' classroom encounters. We have intentionally made the description of the "main emphasis" of the various semesters rather general, so that we will feel less bound by prior decisions if we find that we dcsire a modification as the total picture develops. We started this treatment with the fall semester of 1966 and will have our fifth semester in operation in the fall of 1968. This approach has been well received by the students and we are quite enthusiastic about it. Exbracted fmm a paper presented before the Division of Chemical Education a t the 133rd meeting of t,he American Chemical Society, A p d 1967.
Volume 45, Number 8, August 1968
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