Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Wed, 01/17/2018 - 13:58
Description

Introduction to classical and modern techniques for
synthesizing inorganic compounds of representative and transition
metal elements and the extensive use of IR, NMR, mass, and UV-visible
spectroscopies and other physical measurements to characterize
products. Syntheses and characterization of inorganic and organic
materials/polymers are included. Attendance at departmental seminars
required. Lecture, laboratory, oral presentations.

In-class peer review

Submitted by Chantal Stieber / Cal Poly Pomona on Fri, 03/03/2017 - 17:15
Description

This activity includes questions for students to answer to help guide them through the process of peer review. It was designed to assist students in writing peer reviews for research reports written by their classmates, but could be applied to literature articles as well.

Experimenting with Danger- CSB safety Video

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Thu, 03/02/2017 - 12:19
Description

This 2011 video by the Chemical Safety Board is a very serious and moving motivation for adopting safe practices in the chemical laboratory.  It focuses on two recent and very real safety issues in University labs (UCLA, 2008 and TTU, 2010 ), both of which have shaken the educational research community to result in positive change. 

I have shared a "SafeShare" link so that you will not have to listen to ads, and if you choose to play the link in your classroom, you will not see all the Youtube ads on the screen.  

Safety is job one

Submitted by Alice / Villanova University on Fri, 09/16/2016 - 13:12
Description

This five slides about came to be from a discussion that happened after Marta Guron and Jared Paul gave a talk at the Philly ACS in Fall 2016. This is a modified version of a presentation given to all chemistry students regarding the proper handling and disposal of chemicals. Certain details will need to be modified to fit your individual institutions. The particular focus of the slides is for students to learn to turn to SDS sheets before using chemicals and to be able to read the labels on chemicals and understand the associated safety concerns.

Developing a rubric for a learning object

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Fri, 07/08/2016 - 15:46
Description

A rubric articulates the expectations for an assignment and enables faculty to assess student work in a rapid and consistent manner.

This Five-Slides About was developed for the TUES 2016 workshop Organometallica at University of Michigan. It was presented in conjunction with Chip Nataro's modeling of the development of a literature discussion learning object (Ligand effects in titration calorimetry from the Angelici lab).

Chemical Information Available on the Web

Submitted by Matthew Riehl / Minnesota State University, Mankato on Thu, 06/30/2016 - 22:21
Description

This exercise introduces students to many chemical resources found on the internet.  Rather than being geared for upper-division chemistry majors, much of the material introduced is appropriate for freshmen and sophomore level students (although more advanced students will also benefit from the exercise).  The “web guide” contains links to many search engines and resources with brief descriptions of each while the “web report” has a number of exercises that asks students to search for chemical information.  The assignment is self-guided; students are encouraged to choose topic of interest t

Fischer-Schrock Personality profile

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Wed, 06/29/2016 - 14:16
Description

This is a powerpoint presentation that was developed for and used at the 2016 VIPEr workshop on Organometallic chemistry at the University of Michigan. Organometallic chemistry is a broad field, and we have divided ourselves into different classes based on what we study. For example, the reactivity of the third row metals is often quite different from that of the fourth/fifth rows. Early (high oxidation state with anionic ligands typically) and Late (low oxidation state with neutral ligands typically) metal complexes have different properties and d electron counts.

"Flipped Laboratory": A Discussion-based Electrochemistry Experiment for General Chemistry

Submitted by Samuel Esarey / University of Michigan on Mon, 06/27/2016 - 16:43
Description

This learning object is aimed at getting students to think critically about the data they collect in lab as they collect the data similar to how chemists typically conduct research.  They will be given a pre-lab video and a procedure prior to lab, conduct the experiment, and then upload their data to an Excel spreadsheet.  Students will then stay in their group to discuss the questions given to them on the worksheet in class with the instructor, and are allowed to continue working on them as a group up until the due date.

Reaction Report

Submitted by RSwails / Lafayette College on Mon, 06/27/2016 - 15:24
Description

Students are asked to choose a type of reaction from a set list (included), determine appropriate starting materials and the resulting product and present the reaction as though they accomplished it in the laboratory setting (5 min oral presentation with a 1 page paper).  I asked the students to perform both a rough draft presentation (to me) and final draft presentation (to all students in laboratory).

Writing Lab Reports

Submitted by John Lee / University of Tennessee Chattanooga on Wed, 03/02/2016 - 14:14
Description

Each spring semester I take on the task of teaching and grading full lab reports for my senior advanced inorganic chemistry class. For most this is their first experience writing a document of this magnitude as most other labs they have previously taken require either lab report sheets or the occasional abbreviated lab memo. As I read their lab reports each year I am reminded both how challenging it is to teach writing (more specifically scientific writing) and to grade the reports objectively.