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A Chemistry Course with a Laboratory for Non-Science Majors
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Abstract
Frontiers in Science and Technology is a 3-credit, non-science-majors course. It consists of one 2-hour lab and two 1-hour lectures per week. The course components are arranged to permit starting an experiment in the morning, allowing it to "happen" between periods, and completing it in the afternoon "lecture" section. Lecture and lab mixing occurs throughout the course and is driven by the project-focused lab agenda. Lecture topics follow an evolutionary story line starting with the Big Bang, through the development of stars and planets to life on earth. The topics of bonding, structure, and interactions are aided by molecular modeling. Biomolecules are built, followed by the fundamentals of molecular biology, followed by topical coverage of the advances and consequences of biotechnology. The laboratory involves cooperative learning and is project directed. The three projects are (i) probability and the nature of radioactivity; (ii) molecular modeling; and (iii) cloning of the gene for bioluminescence. The nature of the laboratory experience breaks several paradigms normally associated with a chemistry lab experience. Student evaluation of the course is very positive, the most important result being that these non-science-majors gain a substantial amount of confidence working in the lab.
Keywords (Audience):
High School / Introductory ChemistryKeywords (Domain):
Laboratory InstructionKeywords (Pedagogy):
Collaborative / Cooperative LearningKeywords (Subject):
Nonmajor CoursesCiting Articles
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This article has been cited by 5 ACS Journal articles (5 most recent appear below).
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- Received: August 03, 2009
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