Investigating coherence in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory curriculum via the instructional practices that foster students’ development of program outcomes

Accreditation agencies and university associations have called for institutions to foster coherence in their undergraduate curricula according to how students achieve defined learning outcomes. Program outcomes define the knowledge and skills that students should acquire and demonstrate by the time they complete their coursework and the purpose of this project was to investigate the coherence of the laboratory component of an undergraduate chemistry curriculum according to how instructors addressed program outcomes in these courses. Coherence was assessed by developing and applying a qualitative instrument, known as the IDoLE (Instructor Development of Learning Experiences) characterization scheme, which was developed from previous reports of effective higher education instructional practices. By applying this characterization scheme to each program outcome in this curriculum, we were able to determine how the employed instructional practices indicate the extent of coherence among the laboratory courses. From this analysis, I identified four categories of how the outcomes were developed. Following this program analysis, introductory chemistry students’ lab reports were analyzed, using a written communication rubric, to determine the quality of their scientific writing. The instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and students were then interviewed about how the course allowed students to engage in authentic scientific writing. The findings suggest that departments should carefully analyze how they are supporting students through the construction of learning environments to gain insight into the types of knowledge/skills that students develop from completing the degree program.

My cognate research explored the chemistry of a class of chelating ligands (i.e. chemicals that bind to metals) known as phosphinodiboranates with metals called lanthanides. Using air-sensitive synthetic techniques, I prepared and characterized several lanthanide phosphinodiboranate complexes and studied their structures in solution and the solid-state using methods called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The data revealed how subtle chemical changes in the phosphinodiboranate ligands can be used to alter the structures of lanthanide phosphinodiboranate complexes in the solid state and solution. These results have important implications for understanding the chemical factors that control how metal complexes can depolymerize (i.e. break apart into smaller units) in processes relevant to metal separations, purification, and fabrication of new materials.