Course Of Practical Chemistry Research Articles

Enhancing self-learning skills and quality through formative actions and feedback within chemistry classes in the laboratory – A useful model

In here a novel method is described to improve student success rates in a first-year basic chemistry theoretical/practical hybrid course (n = 31 students) by implementing simple ways of formative assessment. This to reduce student dropout rates following the philosophy of encouraging students’ self-control. Essential is to train first-year bachelor students in their self-learning skills and to enhance their evaluative judgment. As a result, students are able to provide better quality of the assessment products at the end of the course. In practice the course is redesigned and intervention tools are integrated at multiple levels throughout the course. The lecturers’ role was adapted to a coaching role, thereby introducing low-effort personalized micro-interventions to meet the personalized needs of students. To clarify these learning needs for students, awareness of the quality desired for the final assessment products is important. Awareness was improved by providing examples of varying quality and introducing multiple peer- and self-assessment moments during the course. The final evaluation of the course examination products showed that the quality of the laboratory notebook was substantially higher after following this approach. Additionally students learned other important skills such as self-learning skills, collaborating in practical work and giving and receiving feedback. Unexpectedly, the high perceived lecturers’ workload decreased. The work presented here provides a novel approach in the form of a model and a practical blueprint with tools for a practical chemistry course design which develops students’ self-learning skills thereby substantially improving student success rates. In our example course, the ultimate student success rate increased form 83 % to 95 % after using this novel approach.

Going virtual with practical chemistry amidst the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: significance, constraints and implications for future

PurposeAlthough technology is a defining characteristic of distance education, assessment of the applicability of such resources in knowledge dissemination is greatly warranted to ensure effectivity. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the viability of a novel tool in teaching practical chemistry online.Design/methodology/approachHere, a resource named “virtual chemistry lab space” (VCLS), which allowed the learners to virtually engage in practical activities, was administered among learners enrolled in a practical chemistry course at the Open University of Sri Lanka and feedback was collected to ascertain the learner perception on the resource.FindingsIn total, 76% of respondents indicated familiarity with the VCLS, while 59% indicated that they were interested in engaging in activities provided through this resource during the pandemic lockdown. Also, 70% indicated that the VCLS was helpful to understand the course content during the pandemic period, while 82% indicated that they are likely to use it in the future.Research limitations/implicationsThe prevalent problems related to using the VCLS were lack of Internet access, physical interactions and time. However, the overall opinion on the VCLS was notably positive, while a majority indicated that flexibility to the learners, access to learning resources and use of technology in education will improve due to the use of this novel tool.Originality/valueOnline course delivery has been greatly restricted to areas of education where distant delivery could be easily adopted while it is seldom found in areas such as practical chemistry. Hence, the study indicates novelty and notable originality within the ODL system.

Coconut agro-industrial waste in the production of catalyst containing palladium: The report of a mini-project for teaching of sustainable Suzuki-Miyaura reaction

A four-week mini-project for teaching is described for an experimental physical chemistry or organic chemistry course. The activities included synthesis of a Pd catalyst, PdCl2 supported on calcined coconut shell fiber, and its use in the preparation of 4-methylbiphenyl via Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. The technical skills and concepts that are typically presented in practical chemistry courses were covered, including notions of surface chemistry – development of new catalysts, modern organic synthesis, gas chromatography techniques, separation of mixtures, and stoichiometric calculations.

‘What do you think the aims of doing a practical chemistry course are?’ A comparison of the views of students and teaching staff across three universities

The aims of teaching laboratories is an important and ever-evolving topic of discussion amongst teaching staff at teaching institutions. It is often assumed that both teaching staff and students are implicitly aware of these aims, although this is rarely tested or measured. This assumption can lead to mismatched beliefs between students and teaching staff and, if not corrected for, could lead to negative learning gains for students and become a source of frustration for teaching staff. In order to measure and identify this gap in a manner that could be readily generalised to other institutions, a single open question – ‘What do you think the aims of doing a practical chemistry course are?’ – was distributed to students and teaching staff at two Australian universities and one UK university. Qualitative analysis of the responses revealed that students and teaching staff held relatively narrow views of teaching laboratories, particularly focusing on aims more in line with expository experiences (e.g. development of practical skills or enhances understanding of theory). Whilst some differences were noted between students at the three institutions, the large amount of similarities in their responses indicated a fairly common perception of laboratory aims. Of the three groups, academics actually held the narrowest view of teaching laboratories, typically neglecting the preparation of students for the workforce or the simple increase in laboratory experience the students could gain. This study highlights gaps between the perceptions of students and teaching staff with regards to laboratory aims alongside revealing that all three groups held relatively simplified views of teaching laboratories.

“Green” Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling: An exciting mini-project for chemistry undergraduate students

A three-week mini-project is described for an experimental Physical Chemistry or Organic Chemistry course. The activities include synthesis of a biphenyl (4-methoxybiphenyl) via the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction using an adapted domestic microwave oven. The technical skills and concepts that are typically presented in practical chemistry courses are covered, including microwave heating, separation of mixtures, TLC techniques, melting range determination, stoichiometric calculations, and GC–MS techniques.

From cook to chef: Facilitating the transition from recipe-driven to open-ended research-based undergraduate chemistry lab activities

This paper describes the development of mini-research projects in the third year practical chemistry course at the University of Nottingham for the MSci(Hons) Chemistry degree. The aim of these developments is to bridge the gap between ‘recipe-style’ experiments in the first and second year courses and research projects undertaken in the fourth year or in industry. There is much evidence that, having been given this opportunity to plan and design their own experiment, students exhibit higher-order cognitive skills, which can lead to a more valuable learning experience.

Tetraammine(carbonato-κ2O,O′)cobalt(III) nitrate: a powder X-ray diffraction study

Practical chemistry courses at universities very frequently propose the synthesis and characterization of [Co(CO3)(NH3)4]NO3, but this goal is never achieved since students only obtain the hemihydrated form. The anhydrous form can be prepared, however, and its structure is presented here. Similar to the hemihydrate form, the anhydrous phase contains the CoIII ion in an octahedral O2N4 coordination by a chelating carbonate group and four ammine ligands. The structure reveals an intricate array of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving both the chelating and the non-chelating O atoms of the carbonate ligand as hydrogen-bond acceptors of the amine H atoms, which are also involved in hydrogen-bonding inter­actions with the nitrate O atoms. The structure of the anhydrous form is close to that of the hemihydrate phase, suggesting a probable topotactic reaction with relatively small rotations and translations of the [Co(CO3)(NH3)4]+ and NO3 − groups during the dehydration process, which produces an unusual volume increase of 4.3%.

Environmental Protection in Practical Chemistry Courses

Saving on chemicals and reducing waste by connecting single experiments to cycles, optimizing synthesis, recycling, replacing critical experiments, and treating waste water.

A Course of Practical Chemistry for Agricultural Students

MR. NEWMAN AND PROF. NEVILLE have brought into three volumes details of a practical course of agricultural chemistry designed for students taking degrees in agricultural science; the present volume deals with the chemistry and physics of the soil. Much of the book is concerned with pure chemistry and pure physics (physical properties of gases, density, specific heat, etc.), and has no special connection with agriculture as distinct from any other branch of science; only about one-third is devoted to soils and manures.

Notes on Volumetric Analysis Introduction to Chemical Analysis An Elementary Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lessons in A Three Years' Course of Practical Chemistry

Notes on Volumetric Analysis Introduction to Chemical Analysis An Elementary Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lessons in A Three Years' Course of Practical Chemistry

Chemical Experiments, General and Analytical

THIS is a practical, and, in some respects, an admirable, manual for chemical laboratories. The experiments described in the first half of the book instruct in metric measurements, glass manipulation, physical changes, chemical changes, and the preparation, properties and tests for the non-metallic elements and of the most important gaseous compounds. This part of the volume furnishes a good introductory course of practical chemistry. In the second part, the general and analytical reactions for metals are tabulated, the method adopted being to take each metal of a group separately and give the analytical reactions for it, and afterwards to treat the group in the same way. As a whole, the book should prove of Service to students of analytical chemistry. Two features possessed by it offend the eye: one is the reformed chemical orthography, such as sulfuric for sulphuric, oxids for oxides, iodin for iodine, and so on; the other is the use of nearly sixty abbreviations, as, for instance, in the following sentences.

A Course of Practical Chemistry arranged for the Use of Medical Students

A Course of Practical Chemistry arranged for the Use of Medical Students

Bibliographical Notices A Course of Practical Chemistry; arranged for the Use of Medical Students . By Wm. Odling, M.B., F.R.S., &c. With Illustrations. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea. pp. 261.

Bibliographical Notices A Course of Practical Chemistry; arranged for the Use of Medical Students . By Wm. Odling, M.B., F.R.S., &c. With Illustrations. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea. pp. 261.