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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > July  >
In the Classroom
Introducing Second Year Chemistry Students to Research Work through Mini-Projects
Jeffrey G. Dunn and David N. Phillips
Curtin University of Technology School of Applied Chemistry, GPO Box U 1987, Perth, Western Australia 6001, AUSTRALIA
Cover
July 1998
Vol. 75 No. 7
p. 866
Abstract
In these so-called "mini-projects" second year students in an Applied Chemistry degree course gain their first insight to studying a chemistry-based problem prior to undertaking a major chemistry project at third year. They cover a range of topics including industrially based problems, improving current experiments in the second year Analytical Chemistry unit, or developing new experiments for future cohorts in Inorganic/Analytical Chemistry units. The class is divided into groups of 3 students, with each group being quite deliberately structured to include students of a range of ability. The program consists of one week for literature searching and four weeks of experimental work Each group is required to submit a joint written report and give an oral presentation to the whole class. The mini-projects provide an alternative experience for students to complement the standard laboratory exercises encountered in other sections of the course. They serve to introduce students on how to work in group situations, while also providing an insight to the type of work they will meet in their future employment. The assessment is based on self and peer assessment within each group, with the contribution of the class supervisor being only one-quarter of the total assessment. Valuable feedback has been obtained from student comments and the vast majority of comments reflect very favourably on the overall concept.
More Information
*  Citation
 Dunn, Jeffrey G.; Phillips, David N. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 866.
*  Keywords
 Curriculum, Chemical Education Research, Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice, Analytical Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 22, 1999
June 24, 2005
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