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Analytical Chemistry forNonchemistry Science Majors

Valuable lessons for all science majors.John C. Schaumloffel, UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff MMaassssaacchhuusseettttss––DDaarrttmmoouutthhMary Kate Donais, SSaaiinntt AAnnsseellmm CCoolllleeggee

As trained practicing analyticalchem ists, many of us would pro -b ably prefer to teach students

who have a strong desire to learn analyt-ical chemistry. Indeed, well-prepared,motivated students with an interest inanalytical chemistry make the education-al experience much more rewarding forboth parties. However, such studentsare not always chemistry majors.Within the subject areas of analytical

chemistry, some larger institutions offerthe traditional quantitative and instrumen-tal analysis courses for chemistry majors inaddition to the specialized, one-semesterquantitative analysis courses for nonchem-istry science majors. Specialized texts areavailable for the nonmajors (1, 2). Smallercolleges and universities, unfortunately,may not have sufficient student enroll-ment or staff to offer both types of cours-es. At the same time, many analyticalchemistry faculty in small institutionsmeet their service requirement by teach-ing freshman chemistry or analyticalchemistry courses that integrate all sci-ence majors. These service courses pres-ent opportunities to educate large num-bers of students and expose them toanalytical chemistry.By integrating quantitative analytical

chemistry into service courses, particularlywith the use of advanced instrumentation,analytical chemists can provide hands-onexposure to techniques that are relevantto students’ professional or postbaccalau-reate goals. At the same time, the fre-quently undesirable “chore” of teaching

service courses can become a rewardingprofessional experience for the instructor.Advanced analytical chemistry topics

can be integrated into upper-level coursesin specialized programs such as forensicor environmental chemistry. Depending

on programmatic requirements, somestudents may not have the opportunityto take a traditional quantitative analysiscourse before their upper-level courses.Therefore, the laboratory portions ofthese courses may have to include both

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fundamental and advanced analyticalchemistry topics. Such instrumental analy-sis courses often have varied enrollment,including chemistry, biochemistry, naturalscience, life science, and environmentalscience majors. In such a course, the chal-lenge is to integrate aspects of differentscientific fields while retaining a funda-mental basis in analytical chemistry, sothat chemistry majors are not sold short.In designing analytical chemistry

courses for nonchemistry majors, onemust consider how students may use thisknowledge once they leave the collegiateenvironment. Scientists and nonscien -tists in all fields rely on data from quan-titative analyses to make planning, policy,remediation, and research decisions. With-

out some exposure to analytical chem-istry, they will lack the ability to under-stand the problems analysts may haveencountered. Even worse, they may beunable to question the validity of scien-tific data used in a decision-making pro -cess. By educating this broad audience,analytical chemists in academia can betterprepare the general scientific communi-ty for the problems they will encounter.In attempting to reach this group, we

should strive to include context-basedcurricula, undergraduate research or mini-projects, cooperative and problem-basedlearning, and the appropriate use of tech-nology (3–8). Using case study investiga-tions of common scenarios encounteredvia the popular media (televisions, movies,etc.) has also been recognized as an effec-tive means to increase student interest (9,10). Using modern methods also providesa mechanism to more easily integratekey concepts such as quality control andquality assurance into the laboratory (11)while teaching students mechanisms fordata-reduction, recording, and presenta-tion. By introducing advanced instru-

ments as soon as possible in the curricu-lum, greater numbers of nonchemistryscience majors are exposed to analyticaltechniques and methods that representcurrent practice in the working analyticallaboratory. Traditionally, only chemistrymajors have gained such experience (12).Unfortunately, students do not always

understand the relevance of chemistry(not to mention analytical chemistry) totheir professional or educational objec-tives (13, 14); however, this lack of fore-sight can be overcome by clarifying therole of chemistry in other fields at thebeginning of a course (15, 16). To dothis effectively, faculty members shouldbecome familiar with the degree require-ments for nonchemistry science majors,

perhaps through direct discussions withother department faculty. Using a “liter-ary approach” with examples from popu-lar media, film, historical references, etc.,has been recently suggested as anothersuccessful starting point from which todiscuss the capabilities and limitations ofvarious analytical techniques (17).In an informal survey of analytical

chem ists on a popular discussion list(ANALYSIS-L, http://paml.net/groupsA/analysis-l.html), subscriberswere asked to describe the most impor-tant topics or phenomena that nonchem-istry scientists should know about ana-lytical chemistry. The most prominentre sponses indicated that nonchemistryscience majors need to understand thedifference between detection and quan-titation, the effect of the sample matrixon detection limits, the limitations ofvarious methods and techniques, andhow analytical results can be interpretedin nonscientific arguments.Additional topics considered important

by the survey authors included uncertaintyand error analysis, statistical evaluation of

data, calibration, and quality control. Thecurriculum at any institution is likely todepend on the needs and level of thestudent audience, but it should includethe fundamental areas just described.

MMeecchhaanniissmmssAt the University of Massachusetts, theideal time to introduce nonchemistrystudents to analytical chemistry is duringthe freshman sequence. Our course hasan enrollment of approximately 200–250undergraduate biology, medical labora-tory science, and engineering majors,representing ~16% of the school’s fresh-man enrollment. While multiple instruc-tors teach the lecture sections of thecourse, the supervision of the laboratorycurriculum is left to one or two faculty.Nonchemistry science majors will be bet-ter educated when instructors introduceinstrumental methods during the fresh-man laboratory and simultaneously relatethem to topical material covered in thefreshman lecture course. Experiments inthis freshman course include the determi-nation of nicotine in cigarette smoke par-ticulates by GC and the determination ofsodium in urine by atomic emission spec-troscopy (AES). In the former, the con-text of the laboratory is centered on thepublic health debate about tobacco useand the role of the chemist in evaluatingmanufacturers’ claims regarding a product(e.g., milligrams of nicotine/cigarette).The major analytical principles stressedare calibration using a simple comparatormethod, the use of quality control stan-dards, and chemical extraction.Students pool data from the entire

class to evaluate whether an experimentis reproducible from one researcher toanother. The Q test determines whethera student’s experimental results are sus-pect and should be discarded. Vaporpressure, intermolecular forces, chemicalequilibrium, and polarity of moleculesare the fundamental chemical phenomenathat connect the lecture and the labora-tory for this experiment.In the sodium in urine experiment,

the role of a clinical chemist in evaluatingbiological samples during a public healthstudy is explored. The prep aration of acalibration curve, the evaluation of thelinear response of the calibration curve,

By eedduuccaattiinngg this broad aauuddiieennccee,, analytical

chemists in aaccaaddeemmiiaa can better pprreeppaarree the

general scientific ccoommmmuunniittyy for the problems

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serial dilution, and the importance of un-derstanding the sample matrix encompassthe important analytical principles. Con-nections are made between atomic struc-ture and atomic spectroscopy, the natureof electromagnetic radiation, and the re-lationship between temperature andground- versus excited-state electronicstructure (using the Boltzmann equation).Primarily because of pedagogical or fi-

nancial concerns, faculty are often appre-hensive when using modern instrumentsin the introductory sequence (18). How-ever, we have found that the careful selec-tion and presentation of specific instru-mental techniques can make their usein the freshman sequence successful and rewarding.Although both freshman chemistry

and quantitative analysis offer chances toexpose a large number of nonchemistryscience majors to analytical chemistry,certain upper-level courses in more spe-cialized fields also provide this opportu-nity. Forensic and environmental chem-istry courses are excellent opportunitiesto introduce analytical chemistry to non-chemistry science majors and even non-science majors. The laboratory portionsof these courses can be viewed as instru-mental analysis designed specifically withthe needs of nonchemistry majors inmind. Compared with a traditional in-strumental analysis course for chemistrymajors, less time is spent detailing howthe instruments function. Instead, an em-phasis is placed on the use of various in-struments to solve problems. Experimentsare based on forensic analyses or environ-mental analyses, but they illustrate keyanalytical concepts, such as sample prepa-ration and sample matrix issues, calibra-tion, quality control, and uncertainty.By giving students hypothetical sce-

narios to solve in each experiment, teach-ers can illustrate important issues such ashow to choose an appropriate methodfor a given problem and how to properlyinterpret data. By presenting each exper-iment as a problem to be solved insteadof a list of instructions to be followed,students learn to approach laboratorywork as problem solving. They also learnthe importance of proper data interpre-tation when they try to solve a problemwith the information they gathered in the

lab. The use of a problem-solving labo-ratory format gives students experiencessimilar to those they may encounter intheir professional lives.Last, teaching a course such as instru-

mental analysis can be challenging if theenrollment is skewed toward nonchem-istry science majors. At Saint AnselmCollege (Manchester, NH), just as manybiochemistry and natural science majorstake instrumental analysis as do chemistrymajors. How can an instructor addressthe diverse interests of the class while stillillustrating all the desired principles?At Saint Anselm, students propose and

design all the experiments while workingin small groups (two to three students).Students are strongly encouraged toplan ahead for future experiments sothat chemicals, columns, and standardscan be ordered. Each experiment turnsinto a mini-research pro ject, allowing stu-dents to critically evaluate published re-search and results, troubleshoot instru-ments, manage time, and experiencegroup dynamics. With only one or twoinstructors for multiple groups workingin separate rooms, students are oftenforced to solve problems with their ex-periments individually while waiting foran instructor’s help. Groups can usuallyexecute four or five projects in one se-mester, with no two projects using thesame instrument. The number of instru-ments covered using this approach is lessthan if a more traditional “one instru-ment per week” predetermined experi-ment approach is used. Students tend tochoose the more modern instruments inthe department and prefer not to includelesser-used techniques, such as electro-chemical methods. Examples of recentexperiments done by students includethe measurement of poly aro matic hydro-carbons in cigarette filters by atomic fluo-rescence, fragrance analysis by GC/MS, wine analysis by atomic absorptionspectroscopy, and cholesterol determina-tion by absorption spectropho tometry.

MMoorree pprreeppaarreedd,, bbeetttteerr eedduuccaatteeddWhether through introductory coursessuch as general chemistry, or more ad-vanced courses such as environmentalchemistry, numerous opportunities exist

to teach nonchemistry majors fundamen-tal analytical chemistry topics and skills.These topics can be introduced duringthe lecture portions of courses and thendemonstrated through hands-on instruc-tion during laboratory sessions. Sciencemajors will be more prepared and bettereducated when exposed to topics such ascalibration, quality control, critical evalu-ation of data, and measurement uncer-tainty during their service courses; and,equally important, faculty members willhave an opportunity to teach within theirspecialty. Some faculty may have concernsregarding the thoroughness of the mate-rial presented in an analytical chemistrycourse designed for nonscience majors.However, this should be a secondaryconcern because such courses are oppor-tunities to expose a greater number ofscience majors to analytical chemistry.

John C. Schaumloffel is an assistant professorat the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth.Mary Kate Donais is an assistant professorat Saint Anselm College. Address correspon-dence to Schaumloffel at the Dept. of Chem-istry and Biochemistry, University of Massa-chusetts–Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA02747 (jschaumloffe@umassd.edu).

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cal Chemistry: An Introduction, 6th Ed.; SaundersCollege Publishing: Philadelphia, PA, 1994.

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