Development and Implementation of a Two-Level Inquiry- and Project-Based Modular Approach to Teaching a Second-Semester Physical Chemistry Laboratory Course

Over the past 20 years, significant effort has been devoted to advancing the modular approach to teaching chemistry laboratory courses. The development and implementation of two modules are presented here for teaching a second-semester physical chemistry laboratory course using the modular approach: an inquiry-based module concerning proteins and a project-based module concerning organic small molecules. Each module focuses on a molecular system in question and allows participating students to choose and apply various methods to study the system in different ways, according to the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The common thrust of all of the modules is to develop students' critical thinking skills, provide them a conduit to apply their knowledge to real applications, encourage them to model the approaches and behavior of practicing scientists, and excite them to initiate and pursue research opportunities. Details of implementation of this modular approach in teaching the second-semester physical chemistry laboratory for the past 11 years are provided. The assessment results indicate encouraging evidence that this two-level modular approach has achieved its goals and assisted students in choosing more research-based careers.

Automated summary

In the past 20 years, there has been significant effort to advance the modular approach to teaching chemistry laboratory courses. This article presents the development and implementation of two modules for a second-semester physical chemistry laboratory course: an inquiry-based module on proteins and a project-based module on organic small molecules. These modules focus on specific molecular systems and allow students to choose and apply different methods to study them, based on each method's advantages and disadvantages. The main goals of the modules are to develop students' critical thinking skills, provide real-world applications for their knowledge, encourage them to emulate scientists, and inspire them to pursue research opportunities. The article provides details on how this modular approach has been implemented in teaching the second-semester physical chemistry laboratory over the past 11 years. Assessment results indicate that this two-level modular approach has achieved its goals and helped students choose research-based careers.