Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory

National Science Foundation. Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Program Solicitation, NSF05-559. http //www.nsf.gov /pubs 005/nsffl5559/nsf05559.htm (accessed Fall 2006). 

Even if the institution or department has no formal course in laboratory safety, safety training must never be neglected. For laboratory courses, incorporate the safety curriculum into the laboratory manual, and devote a portion of the pre-laboratory lecture every day to discuss safety issues for the particular experiment. In this fashion, the students awareness of the need to observe safety precautions will be heightened. Cover the following points in the curriculum and laboratory manual ... 

SUPPORT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION of new courses and laboratories in materials science is available through National Science Foundation programs in both the Division of Undergraduate Education and the Division of Materials Research. The Division of Undergraduate Education has separate programs targeting laboratory, curriculum, and faculty. 

Computational methods are of increasing importance in the chemical sciences. This paper describes a computational chemistry laboratory course that has been developed and implemented at the University of Michigan as part of the core physical chemistry curriculum. This laboratory course introduces students to the principle methods of computational chemistry and uses these methods to explore and visualize simple chemical problems. 

By the late 20th century, continued calls for the revision of the physical chemistry curriculum were being heard (2-8). These calls were for a significant modernization of both the lecture and laboratory curriculum involving an inclusion of modem research topics into the lecture and the laboratory, the deletion or movement of selected material into other courses, and a reduction in the writing requirements for the laboratory. More specifically, the need for experiments and discussion relating to the incorporation of laser and computer technology has intensified with the spread of these devices into all the chemistry subdisciplines. The ACS published a selection of modernized experiments in an earlier volume (5). 

The forensic science course offered can be a four-hour course that combines lectures with laboratory exercises or three hours of instruction consisting of lectures and several laboratory demonstrations. A brief outline of the course curriculum is presented for both the lecture and laboratory components of the course. 

There are a number of options for faculty members to employ in bringing green chemistry into the curriculum. They can integrate green chemistry concepts into the classroom and laboratory, develop stand-alone courses, emphasize green chemistry in their research, or point students in the direction of extracurricular activities such as conferences and workshops. 

To meet the new undergraduate curriculum requirements at SFU, the Department of Chemistry recently altered a required second-year inorganic chemistry laboratory course to provide specific instruction in scientific writing. The weekly 4-h laboratory sessions remain, in the traditional way, the time for students to receive hands on experience with basic inorganic chemistry concepts and laboratory techniques. With the addition of weekly 1-h tutorials, detailed instruction could focus on the various aspects of writing typically associated with a laboratory science. Attendance at both the laboratory and tutorial sessions is mandatory. 

The relationship among what goes in, what comes out, and what fluctuates within a system is called process control. Chemical engineering students are required to study this subject in some detail, usually as a course and laboratory in the latter half of the undergraduate curriculum. Prerequisite is a thorough understanding of chemical processes, as well as second-year college calculus and differential equations. 

Some safety programs require documentation of safety training for students taking laboratory courses. If the course curriculum material shows that safety topics are included in the laboratory, and the student pre-lab reports referred to above are retained, the need for documentation may be satisfied. 

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