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Cooperative Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Cooperative Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Contributors
Elizabeth Day
Assistant Professor | University of Texas at El Paso
Mengqi Zhang
Organic chemistry laboratory coordinator | Michigan State University
Learning Objets
Summary
This laboratory curriculum uses project-based learning to engage second-year organic chemistry students in investigations which incorporate green chemistry decision-making. The basis for this laboratory curriculum is to experience science from the perspective of an organic chemist. Working in groups, students are tasked with a project requiring them to design and carry out an investigation centered around an organic chemistry reaction. Students have opportunities to plan investigations, engage in green decision-making, use scientific models of phenomena, construct explanations, analyze data to generate evidence, and use that evidence in argumentation communicated in classically scientific ways—reports, scientific papers, posters, and oral presentations. Originally developed by co-author Professor Melanie Cooper, this curriculum was redesigned in 2019 to feature Scientific and Engineering Practices and Green and Sustainable Chemistry and has been implemented sustainably for 600+ students per semester at Michigan State University since 2021.
Keyword Tags
12 Principles of Green Chemistry
Recognize Hazards, Assess Risks, Minimize Risks, and Prepare for Emergencies (RAMP) Safety
Project-Based Learning
Scientific Practices
Collaborative/Cooperative Learning
Organic Chemistry
Lab Experiment
File (PDF, PPT, image, etc)
cooperative-organic-chemistry-student-laboratory-manual-1731522455-print.pdf
Link to external
Cooperative Organic Chemistry Laboratory Manual (OER MSU)
Learning Goals/Student Objectives
Students will gain experience with the following activities that are central to the work of science, providing a foundation for future experimental work and scientific investigation:
1. Design, execution, and troubleshooting of an experimental procedure to investigate a scientific question, solve a problem, and/or design a solution.
2. Collection and analysis of experimental data.
3. Construction of explanations and/or arguments supported by data.
4. Defining real-life sustainability problems and evaluation of solutions based on stakeholder criteria, data, and literature.
5. Communication of findings to peers through formal reports, posters, and/or oral presentations.
6. Collaboration with other students to reach a common goal.
Object Type
Laboratory experiment
Books
Audience
Introductory Undergraduate
Common pedagogies covered
Collaborative/cooperative learning
Problem-based learning
Green Chemistry Principles
Waste Prevention
Atom Economy
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention
Safety Precautions, Hazards, and Risk Assessment
The lab manual has a chapter on using the RAMP safety framework to orient students' thinking about how to approach the mandatory safety planning in their weekly planning documents. These planning documents (examples in the section on assignment guidelines or in the projects themselves) require students to list each chemical, the hazards associated with that chemical, and the recommended personal protective equipment for handling that chemical. This requires that the students interact with SDS on a weekly basis. Furthermore, each planning document requires students to plan for their waste or excess reagent, specifying where each may be disposed (sink, trash can, waste carboy, or other).
Teacher Recommendations or Piloting Data (if available)
This curriculum is being run at MSU on a 600-student scale every semester. Students work in teams of 3-4 (recommended). The timing of the the activities roughly follows this outline:
* students are given an hour to complete the planning document in their teams (usually at the end of a lab period to plan for the next one) and they turn in these documents through the LMS
* TA/instructor reviews their plan before the next lab period and leaves comments of necessary changes to their plans or suggestions for how to carry out their plan
* teams use their modified and approved plan in the lab period to carry out their weekly investigations (1.5-2 hours); these projects are designed so that each student is carrying out their own investigation and contributing to the overall team's data collection
* students analyze their data and decide whether they need to complete more experiments to fulfill their goals or whether they can move on to the next portion
* every lab project ends in science communication - short report, lab report, oral presentation, poster presentation; this gives the students something to work towards in their multi-week investigations
NGSS Standards, if applicable
These materials are designed for higher education (second-year college), but the student activities and assessments engage students in the Scientific and Engineering Practices that are also featured in the NGSS. We have a paper under review that outlines the three-dimensionality of this curriculum and its assessments (three-dimensional learning is the design framework outlined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education that informed the development of the NGSS).

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Elizabeth Day
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.