Poster Presentations for Evaluating Laboratory Coursework John H. Kennedy University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 We are all familiar with the traditional technical presentation "art-forms": the 50-min lecture, the 20-min research talk with slides or with overhead projector, the 5-10-page research paper. Students witness these presentations and may even present some of them as part of their undergraduate or graduate trainina. However. there is a relativelv new technical art-form, the poster presentation, which may not he as familiar to students, and its rapid rise in popularity a t scientific meetings makes it advisable that we should acquaint our students with it. Perhaus, bv so doine. -. the aualitv . . of future poster sessions will improve. In an effort to carry out this task I have used a poster session at the last regdar lahorntory period in an adianved analytical chemistry course ro accomplish several ohiecrives. First, the poster presentation provides the primar;evaluation for assessing the student's laboratory grade. Students are graded on visual presentation, verbal presentation, completeness of information presented, and overall knowledge of the technique. In addition to the presentation, students ' only need to submit short reports containing data, results, and statistical analysis where relevant so that accuracv of work can also he evaluated. Second, students experiencethe poster presentation art-form first-hand and must be able to defend their work in the presence of their instructor as well as their peers. The poster session consists of the entire class (12-15 students) and the instructor reviewing each poster with the student making a 10-15 min presentation a t hisher poster. Questions can be asked by elks members as well as the instructor. Although this format may appear intimidating, all students have performed well in the three years that poster presentations have been made. Third, in this advanced course, each student chooses his or her own analytical problem, and the poster session allows students to learn from their fellow classmates. In this way, all learn a little about all of the projects that were undertaken during the "",,Trio
At this point I should describe the structure of the course hut, clearly, different laboratory course formats could also profit from the use of poster presentations. The advanced analytical chemistry course, as I offer it, is 10 weeks long and allows students to ~ i c one k instrumental technioue and "live -- with it" for the entire quarter. In this way, the student Advanced Anaiytlcal Chemistry Projects
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Technique Atomic absorption spctrometry Atomic absorption spectrometry Atomic absorption spectrometry HPLC and GC Ion exchange chromatography Polarography Polarography Palarography. AAS Poiaragraphy, AAS, ISE Spectrophotometry Thin layer chromatography
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heronies much more familiar with the power as well as the pro1)lems assoriated with hisur her chosen technique than is obtained from carrying out prescribed experiments that have had all the hugs worked out. Because the student "chooses" the techniaue. a sense of commitment is felt and. in my experience, students work very hard to make i t work.' There is also a uride of ownershiu ~ u a r e n at t their poster . a .presentations. Students must rhuose their techniques during the first week so that little time is wasted. I.'ortunately, the students haveail had the basic analyticalchemistry rourseso they are somrwhat iamiliar with various spectrochemiral, electroanalytial, and separation terhniques. Some nuninstrumental tachniquea, such as aonaqueous titratiuns, may also be chosen. Alternatively, a student may pick a uartirular annlvtiral problem and probe it by two or three methods. As an example, one student chose the determination of lead in Mexican pottery to see if i t met FDA standards for importation using atomic absorption spectrometry, polarography, and ion selective electrode potentiometry. After this, the student spends the next 2-3 weeks learning the basic principles (the lecture part of the course covers many of the techniques) and instrumentation for the chosen technique. The last part of the course is devoted t o exploring uses of the technique to solve analytical problems. Students are encouraged to pursue environmental or other problems of general interest. This aspect also livens the poster session at the last laboratory period. The tahle lists some of the projects that have been investigated, some with more success than others, and the figure shows an example of a poster that has been presented. Student evaluations a t the end of the course have always given the poster session high marks in suite of the fact that the groans are clearly audible when theassignment is first made known. Having attended many poster presentations a t scientific meetings, I musr ronfess that the students' posters are significantly dearer and more creative probably due to the considerable amount of time students devote to the presentation of their posters. Perhaps this is a lesson to us all.
Analytical Problems Determination of chrome plating rnickness; Pb and Zn in soil Heavy metals in sewage (Ellison Treatment Plant) Cu in beer Oeterminatlon of organics in Golela Slough water Determination of sugars in h i t juice Cu and Zn in brass: sulfate in sea water CU, Cd, Ni. Zn in lead bullets Pb, Zn, Fe,Cd in pigments Pb in Mexican pottery Fe in vitamin pills Identification of ballpoint pen ink; Caffein in commercial products
Journal of Chemical Education
Example of a poster presentation. Atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of lead and zinc in soil and for the determination of chrome plating thickness.
