Original Research by Students in Chemistry for S. Scott Zimmerman Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 Alth(,ugh research is generally considered a major endeavor of the university, most college studenrs never participate in original research. Even after taking a science murse they often think of the scientific method as the orderly hut dry process by which data are generated.',= I n order to help rectify this problem, I try to share the adventure of science by having eaih student carry out an original, but simple, research project. Each student becomes a scientist and applies the scientific method. I have used this program with both on-campus and home-study chemistry courses. Procedure I first define the scientific method simply as a process consisting of four steps: 1. Ask o question. The question can be profound ("What causes cancer?") or a simple ("Do U.S. coins wear out?"). 2. Form o hypothesis. ("Cancer is caused by the distortion of the structure of DNA due to interaction with foreign chemicals." "U.S. coins become lighter with age.") 3. Develop a procedure for uerifying or nullifying the hypothesis. ("Combine suspected carcinogens with solutions of DNA and measure optical and hydrodynamic differences in the DNA." "Weigh some pennies minted in consecutive years from 1958to 1978.") 4. Analyze the results and draw conclusions. ("Some suspected carcinogens do, in fact, alter optical and hydrodynamic properties of DNA; therefore, a possible cause of cancer is the distortion of DNA structure." "Older pennies show a general trend of weighing less than newer pennies; therefore, U.S. coins wear out.") I emnhasize to the students that there are no set procedures in any of the four steps-no universal formulas for asking productive questions, no standard guidelines for formulating meaningful hypotheses, no set pathways for choosing how or what data should be collected. and no fixed svstem for analyzing these data and drawing conclusions.-what we call "creativity" and "reason" are the only guidelines. I also warn that usually by the time step 4 is reached, step 1begins again. Single experiments rarely settle important questions. As questions are answered, fully or partially, new questions arise. With this introduction, students are given an assignment in two parts: 1. Write a one- to two-page proposal on same simple research project. Any subject may he chosen, no matter how unimportant or trivial it may seem, as long as the time and resources are available for doing the appropriate research. I have found that usually the more trivial the problem, the better the project. 2. After the proposal is approved by the instructor, carry out the research and write a two- to five-page report of the results. Although I give examples of research topics, I emphasize that a major part of the student's grade is based on originality. T h e examnles are nrovided onlv as a auide to the type of projects &nce anotherbasis f;;r grading is G s e n tation (clarity of expression, grammar, and spelling), I suggest an outline for the student reports (Introduction, Materials and Methods. Results. and Discussion). and hand out a copy of my article3 "Writing for ~hemistr~,".&hich contains su@estio"s on eood writina. The final basis for assiauinz grade to the .. . a . student projects is the analysis of data and wnclusions. (1)o the conclusions loaicallv follow from the data'? Can the m n other systems and other circumclusions be extended stances? What are the possible errors?).
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Examples of Student Research Projects The following are examples of interesting student research proiects . . and some of the conclusions: 1. A rtudy of the hest buy on ground heef Thestudent measured the cost per mass of rooked gruund heef. after the melted tat mas drained off. I t appeared that the higher prtced extra-leanynmnd bed was not a good buy. 2. Asurvey of people's attitudes toward anationwide adoption of the metric system. It appeared that the mare people knew about the metric system, the more favorable they were about its adoption. 3. A comparison of the cost per maximum amount of absorbed water of various brands of paper towels. This proved an interesting way of trying to include towel quality in the price comparison. 4. A comparison of the cost of commercial and homemade biscuits. The store-purchased biscuits mst $0.00104/g, but the homemade ones cost only 50.00054lg. 5. A correlation of the dial settings on a household refrigerator with the actual shelf temperature. The student showed a nearly linear relationship between the dial settings (1to 9) and the temperature (7'C to -Z°C). 6. A study of the accuracy of containers used as measuring devices (plasticcontainers, I. V. hags, ete.) in a V. A. hospital. Some containers were found to be in error by as much as 20%. 7. A comoarison of the cost Der unit volume of soft drinks purchased at a " iroeerv.store. and a& fast-foodrestaurant. Drinks at the fast-food restaurants were only slightly higher in cost than those purchased in the grocery store; i.e., the extra money you pay for the ice and service is insignificant. 8. A study entitled "Full Moons, Storms, and Babies." A tally of the number of births and of the weather and phase of the moon during a six-week oeriod showed that the rate of births during full moon and bad weather is much greater than during any other time. General Comments Most students are successful, with some guidance from the instructor, in formulating and carrying out an original research project. Of course, there are some problems. Many students have difficulty in distinguishing between cost and cost per unit mass, between weight and density, and between the number of occurrences and the rate of occurrences. This leads to some misinterpretations of data and to faulty conclusions. Many students lack experience with tables and graphs and simply do not include them in their reports. Several students failed to take into account important complications in their experimental nrocedure. For examnle. one student tried to measure the amount of cooking oil absorbed by French-fried potatoes by weighing the potatoes before and after cooking but failed to take into account the water loss from the potatoes. The most serious oroblem is the lack of detail in manv of the students' proposals. Often the report fails to statethe specific question the student wants to answer, or it omits the exact procedure for answering the question. These problems and errors, however, become learning exThis paper was presented in part at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society,San Francisco, August 1980. Part of the ww(c on this paper . . was completed at the University of Arkansas at Liile ROCk.
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Bronowski. J.. "Science and Human Values," Harper Twchbook, New York. 1965. Brown, R. A,, J. CHEM. Eouc., 54, 720 (1977). Zimmerman, S. S., J. CHEM. EDUC., 55, 727 (1978). Volume 59
Number 9
September 1982
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periences for the students! We discuss student problems and relate them to the real nroblems which all scientists have in formulating research ideas, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Students' Evaluations
I encourage each student to express his or her feelings about the assignment, and most students write an anonymous evaluation. Generally students describe the project as "meaningful," "interesting," "a good learning experience," and "beneficial." Other student comments include: "It gave me a feeling of accomplishment, finding the answer to my own
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question." "I learned that things were not always as they appeared." "The best part was the class discussion of other people's projects!' "It helped us learn first hand the process of the scientific method." "The conclusions were very interesting." "This was the first time an instructor did something of this nature. I learned methods of experimentation." "I felt that the project was a fun thing t o do." On the other hand, some students have negative criticisms: "I felt that the project was interesting hut a burden to my other studies." "It took so long to do." And one student suggested that the instmctor should "stick to chemistry and leave English and composition alone."
