Chemical Education Today
Association Report: 2YC3
Student-Inspired Undergraduate Research by Jane Slezak Two previous articles in this column, one by Georgianna Whipple-Van Patter (1) and the second by Carcy Chan (2), have addressed undergraduate research in two-year colleges. Both articles strongly state the benefits of undergraduate research for students. I want to add my voice to theirs by suggesting the use of routine lab experiments as sources of research ideas. Undergraduate students already interested in science often opt for internships, cooperative work arrangements, or research. Some of their reasons for doing this are to gain experience in the field or to enhance their résumés. Undergraduate research in science has often stemmed from ongoing work being conducted by a professor. The schools involved often have a formalized undergraduate research program and appeal to the students who already have a science career in mind. But with the right learning environment, could other students stumble upon some interesting facet of routine lab work and generate a student-inspired research project? In my classes, research projects are the final lab assignments of the semester. Two lab periods are set aside for this work. Students can, and often do, put in extra time as needed to complete the work. The students are advised that they can
um i s o p Symosters P ption Rece
Don’t miss the celebrations! 75th Anniversary, Division of Chemical Education Tuesday, August 24, 1999
Afternoon, Oral Papers Division of Chemical Education 75th Anniversary Symposium 1:25 Introductory Remarks 1:30 Crystallizing Classroom Chemists: From Isolated Disorder to Organized Interaction in the Teaching of Chemistry, James J. Bohning 2:10 Visions, Achievements, and Roads not Taken During DivCHED's Early Years, Theodor Benfey 2:50 Intermission 3:00 Keeping an Old Journal Young, John W. Moore 3:25 Quality Assessment Materials—CHED Tradition, I. Dwaine Eubanks and Lucy T. Eubanks 3:50 Summer Madness: The Biennial Conferences on Chemical Education, A. Truman Schwartz 4:15 Don't Just Tell Me, Tell Your Colleagues! Elizabeth A. Moore 4:40 New Commitments: 1978 Long-Range Planning Conference, Jerry A. Bell
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“build on” an earlier experiment of interest and expand on the experimental ideas and techniques. Many of them choose this route. The students receive course credit for their research; but many students spend time outside of regular lab hours and beyond the course, even into the summer, in order to collect and analyze additional data. The students write up their results in a formal lab report with an abstract and references. Several of these reports have been submitted for publication. A brief description of two such projects follows. One originated in a general chemistry lab, and the second came from an organic chemistry lab. One of the experiments that general chemistry students usually find interesting is the analysis of commercial tablets and juice for their vitamin C content. A student discovered in an old history book that sailors at sea sometimes used the leaves of cedar trees as a source of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. Since this student had a cedar tree near his home, he decided to determine if cedar leaves could be a reliable source of vitamin C. There were some technical difficulties encountered in the research; one was that the cedar leaves could not be boiled to extract the vitamin C for analysis because heating would destroy it. How-
Evening, 5–7 p.m., Poster Session and Reception Memorabilia and Reminiscences from the Division's Past • Founding of the Division of Chemical Education, Adrienne W. Kozlowski • Officers of the Division of Chemical Education, Adrienne W. Kozlowski • ACS Exams—CHED Members Make It Possible, Lucy T. Eubanks and I. Dwaine Eubanks • The Biennial Conferences on Chemical Education: Memories and Memorabilia, A. Truman Schwartz • What Makes a 21st Century Journal?, John W. Moore and Elizabeth A. Moore • CHED News: The Road to a 100-page Monster, Elizabeth A. Moore • National Meetings through the Decades, Adrienne W. Kozlowski • Earlier Histories of the Division of Chemical Education, Adrienne W. Kozlowski • Awards Received by the Division of Chemical Education, Adrienne W. Kozlowski • Alyeaisms, 197th ACS National Meeting, David A. Katz
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 8 August 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
edited by Ann Cartwright San Jacinto College, Central Campus Division of Science & Mathematics Pasadena, TX 77501-2007
ever, the student was able to overcome the difficulties and produced some interesting results. More important was the excitement of the student in doing original research. It also lent an interesting historical perspective to a chemistry assignment. The second experiment that produced student-generated research was the determination of the saponification number of a fat in an organic chemistry lab experiment. The students determined the saponification numbers for a saturated and an unsaturated fat. This originated from an article found by a student, stating that certain teas contained substances that might reduce cholesterol. Two students brought in and tested oolong and green tea by mixing them with the fats and determining the resulting saponification numbers. The results interested the students enough that they continued with some spectroscopic assays and other data analysis. The important aspects were the students’ genuine enthusiasm and their willingness to spend extra time in the lab on their own project. Student-generated research is an ideal way to interest students in science and possibly even in scientific careers. Community colleges are ideal places to do it. Professors in two-year colleges usually teach both the lecture and the lab. They have ample opportunities to know the students, to learn about their outside interests, and to hear about other courses they are taking. With this “insider” information, it is possible for professors to ask questions that could invite students to further inquiry. Literature Cited 1. Whippple-Van Patter, G. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 1210. 2. Chan, C. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 15– 16.
Jane Slezak teaches in the Department of Chemistry, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Johnstown, NY 12095-3790.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 76 No. 8 August 1999 • Journal of Chemical Education
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