Research-based laboratory

This student explicitly describes how she did not think that she would be able to do research before her CASPiE experience however, the experience with a research-based laboratory showed her that she had the skills necessary to work in a research environment. 

We have attempted to give a contemporary overview of the whole field which we hope will provide not only a convenient source of information but also ideas for further advances on the solid research base that has come from so much dedicated effort in laboratories all over the world. 

It is expected that, in the future, inquiry, project-, problem- and context-based approaches will be given more emphasis. Cooperative forms of laboratory instmc-tion must surely be further and systematically explored, taking into account the research-based recormnendations. Lecture demonstrations, effectively designed and performed, will also be useful. Other nonconventional methods can be effectively employed, such as the use of home-laboratory kits to teach general chemistry through distance education (Kermepohl, 2007). 

Wallace, C. S., Tsoi, M. Y., Calkin, J., Darely, M. (2003). Learning from inquiry-based laboratories in nonmajor biology An interpretive study of the relationships among inquiry expe-rienee, epistemologies, and coneeptual growth. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40, 986-1024. 

Zoller, U., Pushskin, D. (2007). Matching higher-order cognitive skills (HOGS) promotion goals with problem-based laboratory practice in a freshman organic chemistry course. Chemistry Education Research cmdPractice, 8, 155-171... 

Mass spectrometers have been used at some level in all of these types of investigations because of their unsurpassed sensitivity and specificity, their multicomponent analytical capability and, in some cases, their ability to provide precise and accurate isotope ratios. Traditional methods of analysis typically involve the collection of water and sediment samples, or biological specimens, during field expeditions and cmises on research vessels (R/Vs), and subsequent delivery of samples to a shore-based laboratory for mass spectrometric analyses. The recent development of field-portable mass spectrometers, however, has greatly facilitated prompt shipboard analyses. Further adaptation of portable mass spectrometer technology has also led to construction of submersible instruments that can be deployed at depth for in situ measurements. 

Recent decades have seen the emergence of a novel approach to scientific research, based on the exploitation of fast electronic digital computers. Computation provides a method of investigation which transcends the traditional division between theory and experiment. Computer-assisted simulation and design may afford a solution to complex problems which would otherwise be intractable to theoretical analysis, and may also provide a viable alternative to difficult or costly laboratory experiments. Though stemming from Theoretical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry is a field of research... 

Interestingly, there were two significant gaps in the recommendations. The first was the lack of recommendations for education research on the physical chemistry laboratory, although in his contextual article (2), McCay called for future assessment of the experiments developed by the Pew Mid-Atlantic Cluster. The second related lacuna was in an absence of education research based revisions of the physical chemistry laboratory as a whole. 

The research-based approach to laboratory education achieves many educators goals for the undergraduate laboratory curriculum (Nagda et al. 1998 Wenzel 2003 Lopatto 2004 Seymour et al. 2004), such as increasing student motivation (Module author 4) and developing an interest in the topic (Student 4). CASPiE modules place the students laboratory work in the context of ongoing scientific research and, in turn, increase student motivation for the laboratory work. Students acquire hands-on laboratory skills as they carry out their experiments. 

Russell, C. B. (2008) Development and evaluation of a research-based undergraduate laboratory curriculum. PhD dissertation, Purdue University. 

One of the most difficult tasks was to create the operating structure to enable the organization to work as seamlessly as possible. In my time leading the organization, the Process Research and the Biotransformations functions in Figure 4 were in laboratories adjacent to those of the Discovery Research scientists laboratories. Research s laboratories were nearly three miles away from the pilot plant/production site where all other functions, except the Swiss operation, were situated. The Swiss operation based near Luzern overcame their distance away from the core site by virtue of frequent interactions through their key personnel, all outstanding people (see Chapter 2). 

Problems and facts that in the author s personal experience arise in the industrial application of tannin-based adhesives for timber sometimes indicate lack of correspondence with laboratory practice and results. These are often problems related to unusual characteristics of the adhesive itself, or of its application technique, which could not be noticed during research under laboratory conditions, but the existence of which could easily jeopardize successful implementation of laboratory technology into industrial practice. Correcting the credibility gap between research focus and industrial usage is seen as a critical step toward market expansion for these new products. Important considerations are consistency of tannins, extracts and adhesives properties due to the natural raw material variability formulation in cold-setting adhesives and application conditions (such as wood moisture and adhesive-content or pressing time) in particleboard adhesives. These problems have been overcome in use of wattle tannin-based adhesives as shown by a visual comparison of tannin-, phenolic-, and melamine-bonded particleboards exposed to the weather for 15 years and the growing use of tannin-based adhesives in other countries. 

Much of the evidence for the adverse reproductive effects of selected toxicants will be based on cases involving wildlife exposures to environmental contaminants or on the experimental results of research exposing laboratory animals to large, pharmacological doses of potential toxicants. When available, data will be presented from accidental or intentional human and domestic animal exposures to toxicants associated with riot control and chemical warfare or with environmental catastrophes where incidences of infertility, abortion, and teratogenesis have been traced over the course of a number of years. 

Among the major governmental research centers, particular mention should be made of the following. The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) at Poona is charged with the development of methods for the manufacture of a large number of chemicals, materials, and devices. Similarly, the Indian Institute of Petroleum at Dehra Dun, the Central Fuel Research Institute of Dhanbad, the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute at Bhatnagar, and the region research laboratories at Hyderabad, Jorhat, and Jamma provide support for development of the chemical industry. The emphasis is on research based on the immediate needs of the country. 

We have seen that variability in toxicity testing can arise from repeat measurements made within a laboratory and also between laboratories. In reality, the variability seen between laboratories is a consequence of both within- and be-tween-laboratory sources of variability, and both are also subject to the within-test variability referred to earlier, as evident from differences between test replicates. Research based on a series of acute aquatic toxicity tests (Whitehouse el al., 1996) shows that variation between laboratories is higher than that between repeat tests in the same laboratory. This, in turn, accounts for more variability than that seen between replicates within a test. Similar findings are evident from the work of others in connection with the introduction of whole-effluent toxicity tests in the USA (e.g. Warren-Hicks and Parkhurst, 1992 Fulk, 1995). Over the years, a number of authors have examined variability in aquatic toxicity testing. Typically these describe variability in terms of the coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by the mean) in EC50 or LC50 values that is achieved when the same toxicant is tested several times (or by several laboratories) using the same method. Table 2.3 summarises the results of a review of published data. 

Nakhleh MB, PoUes J, MaUna E (2002) Learning chemistry in a laboratory environment. In J. K. Gilbert, O. De Jong, R. Justi, D. F. Tieagust and J. H. Van Driel (Eds.), Chemical Education Towards Research-based Practice (pp. 69-94). Dordrecht Kluwer... 

Most of the research conducted with aqueous two-phase systems has been experimental and empirical few studies of the fundamental thermodynamic mechanisms of phase separation and partitioning have been conducted (5, 23, 24). Furthermore, the systems which have been described use highly purified, expensive polymers, for model laboratory-scale applications. Novel bioseparation research based on aqueous two-phase systems needs to focus more on fundamental aspects needed to design phase diagrams and calculate partition coefficients. This... 

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