For the past five years, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland at College Park has worked to modernize all facets of the undergraduate laboratory experience. Students in the first-year biochemistry laboratory now utilize modern techniques in biochemistry and molecular biology to isolate and characterize the bacterial enzyme alkaline phosphatase. Organic chemistry laboratories are now conducted exclusively with microware. New laboratory-intensive introductory chemistry courses have been developed for out chemistry majors. This Highlight describes innovations in three upper-division laboratories, Physical Chemistry Laboratories I and II and Instrumental Methods of Analysis. Beyond serving as an experimental practicum, an important goal of these laboratories is that students begin to gain an appreciation for the power of chemical measurements to probe the properties of more complex chemical systems. Since physical and analytical methods are increasingly applied to biochemical systems in research, in industrial processes, and in health and environmental regulation, it is appropriate to introduce experiments involving biochemical, environmental, and materials systems to these upper-division laboratories.
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