Graphing Activity for the First General Chemistry Lab Session to Introduce Data Processing

Abstract

The first day of lab was traditionally a day to check into lab drawers, discuss lab safety, and perform a basic primer in graphing with Microsoft (MS) Excel, but it now includes an activity that involves reproducing a rather complex graph from the scientific literature. The activity is designed to give the students a brief introduction to the layout of a scientific article; its similarity to the scientific process; and basic statistics, including mean and standard deviation. The task of reproducing the graph from the literature requires students to demonstrate their ability to perform calculations using MS Excel, plot multiple series on one graph, display trendlines, use a secondary axis, and employ custom error bars. The mastery of these skills is apparent to the students and instructors by inspection of the completed graph and grading of the spreadsheet and postactivity questions using a rubric that is specific to the learning outcomes (96.3% class average). Furthermore, the graph to be duplicated is chosen from a paper coauthored by an undergraduate from our university, which creates a sense of relevance to the students. Using an article from our institution also provides the advantage of having access to the raw data, which are not always found in the literature. The incorporation of this activity into the first lab session of our introductory first-year chemistry course has resulted in the instructors of this and subsequent courses to rarely need to assist students in creating graphs, which are the routine conclusion to many lab sessions.