Chemical Education Today
Conducting Undergraduate Research at Vincennes University by Jay Bardole Department of Chemistry, Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana 47591 *
[email protected] by Gabriela Weaver Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2084
Vincennes University (VU) is a comprehensive community college; its original charter was issued in 1801. The chemistry department has maintained a strong laboratory component in its courses for many years, including both traditional and discovery experiments. Each experiment includes a quiz taken when the laboratory report is submitted. General Chemistry II and more advanced courses use a bound notebook to record procedures, data, and observations. Unfortunately, VU undergraduates have neither the advantage of a collaborative research group nor advanced instrumentation. VU lacks the ability to do complete chemical literature searches, and needed equipment is either outdated or absent. Finally, VU lacks upper-class students to provide leadership for first- and second-year chemistry students. This article discusses strategies that VU is using to give its chemistry students the opportunity to engage in authentic research experiences despite these disadvantages. VU as a Partner Institution in CASPiE VU is a partner institution in the Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE). The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds a collaborative effort with CASPiE designed to address major barriers in providing research experiences for undergraduate science students (1). The CASPiE collaboration involves 17 institutions, including other two-year colleges, research universities in the United States, and one research university overseas. The original lead institutions included Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Ball State University, and the College of DuPage. Secondsemester students have enough chemical knowledge to do some basic research in the laboratory. VU students can elect to participate in the CASPiE-style laboratory and study the presence of antioxidants in a food product of their choice. Our second-year students must select either a solid-phase organic synthesis project or a project to prepare biodiesel and characterize the finished product. Resources for Chemical Literature Sources We found some search engines on the Internet that were helpful for literature searches. Useful engines included Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/; accessed Jul 2010) and INSPIRE (http://www.doe.in.gov/olt/library/inspire.html; accessed Jul 2010), which is Indiana's Virtual Library for linking
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users to full-text articles. SciFinder Scholar (http://www.cas.org/ products/sfacad/index.html; accessed Jul 2010) is the premier search tool in chemistry. The full text of each article found by SciFinder is immediately available if the institution subscribes to the originating journal; the text may also be available through interlibrary loan. The VU library was willing to fund SciFinder for two years, followed by an evaluation of its usefulness. Our students are required to do some practice searches during the fall semester before the research module begins in the spring. Remote Instruments for Equipment Needs To meet equipment needs, CASPiE maintains remote instruments that have proven helpful. A Raman spectrophotometer is not in VU's instrument inventory, but we can teach its use and apply it to our research. VU's practice is to send our students' samples to the CASPiE remote laboratory at Purdue University where the samples are placed in the Raman autosampler. Our students then learn to operate the Raman spectrophotometer from a computer at VU, print the results, and do the spectral analysis. These spectra may be incorporated into the students' final reports. What the CASPiE Modules Do for Students The CASPiE modules teach techniques needed to do a research project (1). Students work in teams of two and apply the newly learned techniques to their research project by evaluating different starting materials, different reaction conditions, or other relevant variables (2). The students are asked to suggest possible next steps for further study. All teams complete a final project in the form of a written paper, a poster, or an oral report. The results of CASPiE research may be shared with the scientist who wrote the module. The Module for First-Year General Chemistry Students The first-year students undertake a module titled Antioxidants in Foods (3). Students select a commercial food product to study. They build and use a calibration curve, operate a visible spectrophotometer, prepare standard solutions, and do many titrations to determine the amounts of antioxidants in the product they have selected. It is easy for students to identify the role antioxidants have on their health, and they are motivated by the fact that they are contributing to the knowledge base of sources of antioxidants.
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r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Vol. 87 No. 11 November 2010 10.1021/ed100696z Published on Web 08/12/2010
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The Module for Organic Chemistry Students
Advantages of the Undergraduate Research Experience
The organic chemistry students select either a solid-phase organic synthesis module (4) or a biodiesel module (5).
An undergraduate research experience engages the students who participate and students in the class who have been lukewarm to declaring a science major find new excitement in chemistry. Other students who are not in a CASPiE laboratory learn about the opportunity and look forward to their chance to participate in their second year. Students who participate learn to do a literature search, use modern instrumentation, experience some of problems and rewards of doing something no one has done before, and then describe it to their peers in a formal report. Most students enjoy the projects and gain academic maturity as a result of the opportunity. After transferring to Purdue University, two of our students found an opportunity to do biodiesel research in Purdue University laboratories, one as a chemical engineering student and one as a chemistry major. The CASPiE laboratory manual for the research modules will be on the CASPiE Web site (http://www.caspie.org; accessed Jul 2010).
Solid-Phase Organic Synthesis Module Merrifield resins are the standard supports used for amino acid sequencing in solid-phase peptide synthesis. Students apply these resins for other organic synthesis. The module teaches and applies techniques and reactions they studied in class, including an SN2 reaction to immobilize a phenol; a study of the strength of nucleophiles; and a Volhard chloride determination that requires a back-titration to determine chloride loading of the students' resin. Students also learn to use solid-phase infrared (IR) techniques and Raman spectroscopy. Biodiesel Module Biofuels are a renewable energy source and have a lower carbon footprint than petroleum-based fuels. The biodiesel module applies transesterification, acid-base catalysis, acidbase titration, column chromatography, thin layer chromatography, gas liquid chromatography, and IR analysis. This module introduces students to new techniques not taught in our organic chemistry course. Students learn to characterize diesel fuels by determining cloud points, pour points, and flash points. Students also perform a temperature-dependent viscosity study. Teams have to size the reaction that includes their choice of a catalyst to prepare enough product to make a gallon of 20% biodiesel. Their final product is tested in a farm tractor for both horsepower and the amounts of CO, SOx, and NOx in the exhaust. Exhaust temperature and rate of fuel consumption are also evaluated. The 20% biodiesel test results are then compared to #2 diesel and #1 diesel fuels. Conclusions about the Organic Chemistry Modules The whole organic chemistry class became like a research group. All students knew about both experiment modules in some depth. We were able to build skills in computer applications such as ChemDraw, molecular modeling, research ethics, and design of new procedures in prelaboratory sessions and short assignments throughout the year.
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Literature Cited 1. Weaver, G. C.; Varma-Nelson, P.; Wink, D. J.; Morris, R.; Lytle, F. Developing a New Model To Provide 1st- and 2nd-Year Undergraduates with Chemistry Research Experience: Early Findings of the Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE). Chem. Educ. 2005, 11, 125–129. 2. Shih, S. M.; Bentley, A. K.; Weaver, G. C.; Russell, C. B.; Fornes, W. L.; Choi, K.-S. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 1183. 3. Hoch, M. A.; Russell, C. B.; Steffen, D. M.; Weaver, G. C.; Burgess, J. R. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 595. 4. Dickson, D. P.; Toh, C.; Lunda, M.; Yermolina, M. V.; Wardrop, D. J.; Landrie, C. L.; Reduction of Solid-Supported Olefins and Alkynes. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 9535; DOI: 10.1021/jo901764u. 5. Majewski, M. W.; Pollack, S. A.; Curtis-Palmer, V. A. Diphenylammonium Salt Catalysts for Microwave Assisted Triglyceride Transesterification of Corn and Soybean Oil for Biodiesel Production. Tetrahedron Lett. 2009, 50, 5175.
Jay Bardole is in the Department of Chemistry, Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN 47591;
[email protected]. Gabriela Weaver is in the Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2084;
[email protected].
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
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r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
