Conducting Undergraduate Research at Vincennes University

Abstract

Undergraduate chemical research can serve a useful and important role in the education of community college students. For students who have no other contact with research it is an opportunity for a new perspective on science and serves to encourage students to select and remain in a science career. It also brings credibility to chemistry students among their peers. Faculty leadership, laboratory facilities, and flexible scheduling are available at the community college level for students, yet other resources, including some laboratory equipment, access to the chemical literature, and upper-level student leadership are more difficult to provide to community college students. Areas of research described are from the CASPiE modules Solid Phase Organic Synthesis, and Bio-Diesel Production and Evaluation.