MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Phil Blake McBride Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Committee Chair Richard T. Taylor Research Director Arlyne M. Sarquis Committee Member Jerry L. Sarquis Committee Member James W. Hershberger Graduate School Representative Allen Berger ABSTRACT REVITALIZING CHEMISTRY LABORATORY INSTRUCTION by Phil Blake McBride This dissertation involves research in three major domains of chemical education as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. program in chemistry at Miami University with a major emphasis on chemical education, and concurrent study in organic chemistry. Unit I, Development and Assessment of a Column Chromatography Laboratory Activity, addresses the domain of Instructional Materials Development and Testing. This unit outlines the process of developing a publishable laboratory activity, testing and revising that activity, and subsequently sharing that activity with the chemical education community. A laboratory activity focusing on the separation of methylene blue and sodium fluorescein was developed to demonstrate the effects of both the stationary and mobile phase in conducting a separation. Unit II, Bringing Industry to the Laboratory, addresses the domain of Curriculum Development and Testing. This unit outlines the development of the Chemistry of Copper Mining module, which is intended for use in high school or undergraduate college chemistry. The module uses the learning cycle approach to present the chemistry of the industrial processes of mining copper to the students. The module includes thirteen investigations (three of which are web-based and ten which are laboratory experiments) and an accompanying interactive CD- ROM, which provides an explanation of the chemistry used in copper mining with a virtual tour of an operational copper mine. Unit III, An Alternative Method of Teaching Chemistry: Integrating Lecture and the Laboratory, is a project that addresses the domain of Research in Student Learning. Fundamental Chemistry was taught at Eastern Arizona College as an integrated lecture/laboratory course that met in two-hour blocks on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The students taking this integrated course were compared with students taking the traditional 1-hour lectures held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with accompanying 3-hour lab on Tuesday or Thursday. There were 119 students in the test group, 522 students in the Shelton control group and 556 students in the McBride control group. Both qualitative data and quantitative data were collected. A t-test was used to test significance. REVITALIZING CHEMISTRY LABORATORY INSTRUCTION A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry by Phil Blake McBride Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2003 Dissertation Director: Arlyne M. Sarquis © Phil Blake McBride 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables.......................................................................................................v List of Figures ....................................................................................................vi Dedication......................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... viii Introduction to the Dissertation .......................................................................1 Unit I – Development and Assessment of a Column Chromatography Laboratory Activity Chapter 1: Introduction and Conceptual Framework..................................5 1.1 Statement of Problem...............................................................................5 1.2 Background ..............................................................................................5 1.3 Purpose.....................................................................................................6 1.4 Description of Terms ...............................................................................7 Chapter 2: Methodology....................................................................................8 2.1 Framing ....................................................................................................8 Setting Project Goals/Audience Analysis ...............................................8 Idea Development....................................................................................8 Review of the Literature........................................................................10 2.2 Alpha Stage ............................................................................................10 Initial Drafting/Revision........................................................................10 Preliminary Design ................................................................................11 Microtesting ...........................................................................................13 Creation of Alpha Draft.........................................................................14 Internal Review of Alpha Draft.............................................................14 2.3 Beta Stage ..............................................................................................15 External Review by Content Experts ....................................................15 Classroom Test with Target Group .......................................................17 Document Design ..................................................................................17 2.4 Pilot Stage ..............................................................................................17 Test and Revise......................................................................................17 Pilot Tested by Intended End Users ......................................................17 Revision/Final Production.....................................................................17 2.5 Field Stage..............................................................................................18 Field Testing ..........................................................................................18 Final Testing After Revision is Complete.............................................18 2.6 Dissemination ........................................................................................18 Chapter 3: Description of Project Content ...................................................19 3.1 Overview of the Laboratory Investigation ............................................19 3.2 Experimental Procedure.........................................................................20 3.3 Preparation of a Chromatography Column ...........................................20 3.4 Safety, Handling, and Disposal .............................................................21 3.5 Sample Student Data..............................................................................23 3.6 Discussion ..............................................................................................26 3.7 Conclusion..............................................................................................28 Unit I References ..............................................................................................30 iii Unit II – Integrating the Chemistry of Copper Mining into the Chemistry Curriculum Chapter 1: Introduction and Conceptual Framework................................33 1.1 Statement of Problem.............................................................................33 1.2 Overview of the Copper Mining Project...............................................33 1.3 Goal and Objectives...............................................................................34 Chapter 2: Description of the Copper Mining Project................................35 2.1 Curriculum and Materials Development...............................................35 2.2 Potential Impact and Significance.........................................................37 2.3 Project Team, Plan and Evaluation .......................................................38 Chapter 3: Review of the Literature..............................................................39 Chapter 4: Chemistry of Copper Mining......................................................40 4.1 Phase I: Leaching...................................................................................40 4.2 Phase II: Solution Extraction.................................................................41 4.3 Electrowinning.......................................................................................45 Unit II References.............................................................................................47 Unit III – Integrating Lecture with Lab in the Introductory Chemistry Course Chapter 1: Introduction and Conceptual Framework................................50 1.1 Background and Significance................................................................50 1.2 Review of the Literature ........................................................................51 1.3 Statement of the Problem.......................................................................52 1.4 Statement of the Null Hypothesis..........................................................52 Chapter 2: Methodology..................................................................................53