a Ce (CALEDUGATION Utilizing Problem-Based Learning in Qualitative Analysis Lab Experiments 4 Randall W. Hicks" and Holly M. Bewek” & DDepatment of Chemistry, Laman igs Calg, Alcigan Stat Unters, Het Lansing ichigen 3824 UR Stats Dsgnaringifscten : ninaanarnenegl Pl ABSTRACT: A series of qaltatee anal Lilsing a problem based earsng (VBL) modile tas boon designed and iroplementsl, The modsle guided stents heoigh the experiments under the guts of cleaning up a potently coneasinated water seas employees of an erviroamentat cheney Isborstry. The asin gol as the requirement for Sualets to devise thetrenn dowebarsanlthen empl them inte separation of ab unknown mitre of soeous cations, Stade Howeharts and espert Sent yeulte weve suminarat# ina data epost, thusatisiing the problem posed to them i the VBL module. OBL was spedialy used ban ent to Insprove stints andertanding of the materials ly providing cab work contest for the espotiments, Thi ew seties of Ish expeximents prov instructor with 4m eet aerate to enszelp cookbook type labora for tesching QA. Y KEYWORDS: Fat Vitipate!Gonl Labor ingen, Ppt Chen he egal They Pon Sabog Deesod Mikng Ace/Baeayeeoputon Chums Equi, Psst Shey, Oyakiatve Ansys ae a — tiochemtiy™ courses. Hal Whitehas published a continuing he cplncy casegkoerteibecsonianes (of PBL. in science education?*~® Yt has been established that yo! Since theny it his been the bss of expe learning outcomes are improved axing PBL when oSmpared 10 aptheietum td eaceede nto peter etna int Theor ane ce ae atom EBs tone bet equped tae ble and hae ges a Ti clio ohne abg’e dedgp roe eds sus (QA) Isbortor) experiments we analsis (QA) sere gener chemistry Uboratery cursicalum. 1 “SECA was developed by C-R. Fresenius hare to aidih spanion and Meneame Unter Sod win learned mater th our sere of boston satehs it equceonly minal Rouglgrae stents pr nents pent th = el od pot wich hey Fines mow Inger it Sp come the ia capt Be Kaming, cg uh epee ta thelles: of this approach alld Aue Sttegy fr spantion of catoasand ten bvequndy ureter Shtcmts to Inpoove epee M{gctonaltethod of QA omnis sce to anaae potently "nts yuretin ts Joomla gfe inde “notte” caper hae nate” (anknows) spl, Sales caplet swe 8 ‘renting rg sets of tens Those vith sale sets an employees of an error cheney Ibortoy nd aphnts tm pedoleiyepetinples wing votesigned QA iaine thelr ndings a 4 wate wed a 2 ospec gous to vier beter nge choses” av te ixorporste developer Sram type, questing’ Faperiments nvaling | household chemicals,” laborater Wwolving natural waters," and atleast cncconparangy On) se mcuenfsbheng THE EXPERMENTAL UN sto ce oo pwn ae tind ao ei of QA bars wn eed anf the Itersture 5 2yhis experiment uses a large set of ions and” yheeehoue Lab sessions (Table 1). Approximately 70 fist-year requites nigghstecks of fib time, Farthermore, it lacks the undergraduate science majors completed this lab un. fa the Contesting in which tds cn frame ther karing. fr too weeke mulents aly ta cory ear the ‘ATougoycek QA unit ix presented that employs a proMem-——srpartion of (CAD group 1 cup trasedhfing (PBL) module ava alternate to the cookbuck GP Ces Cot NPT and: en) cations and MenGiy un ‘enppyment, Though rooted in medical education, PBL has alse apap Thangs sont nominate Paks ee omen tn poe, Dok Sess rmanval”? were Pabiishel: Novesber23, 2011Journal of Chemical Education ‘Table 1. Activities and Goals of the Qualitative Analysis Lab ne ‘atte ‘ sted en pide st psa ad ‘daly grup Laknow etione 2 stores ea onc r appt and sty goepunaeneens 3 odes rte Bonet fe spaation grup IV clone ‘ eden whe tal oct sport and Heo groep TV urn eatons 7 ABGRSTORL EXeSSIMENTS : el enhance QR eben the ees esto tsi and we di cerning ob tea the cn of te 8 en snot de enuping ost apoteily es open aponey provkted each week, Although this work was pevformed in the traditional cookbook manner, it allewed students to become familar with the techniques used in QA prior to constructing {heir own Hlowcharts. Tnssvek ttee, students developed theirgwm fowehart fora set cof group IV (NUs", Bu", Ma's, and Cx") cations by systens anicay executing reactions involving all zhe posible combinations ‘of each cation stock welution with various bench reagents, Based fon these preliminary results students constnxted their enn ‘separntion flowchars and i the fal we used them to separate and Wentify group 1V cations present inthe onknown samp HAZARDS ‘hisesperimentinvalves the useof metal solutions and strong, elds and bases, Peoper protective gear shotld be wor 2t all bins, Please rele tothe Suppesting Information fora consplete Hist of substances and hazards s id BTHE PBL MODULE ‘he fn hco wees of the experiment ere perineeg the PBL modal which peed stafens th the Apia. scenari: Wayne Development and developmen regs pacts: a plece of el edz pth the intention €6fing 4 Santry spor cngles On the Back corny die prety there a be that would he teased into tecratoalsvimmangarss, Yeas ag epee manufctring plane which hs Tnown to contain cataninant di practices on behalf of the plot. MS the deeloprosot i, need infor that pet the tet ‘the contamination, Sefce aed pad on he property, bis fim occ to know ow ec Badge or tbe cats ne in remediation of tr ste Hepat decile to eagioy your fem, Entomol Chemical to sample the waterand est for ales Wayne, ossnee of contaminants, Vourtashafl reeparteandidentlpions Found ole srctnt in thee sno el hen subi an fic eportto the developer thap gates sour Sndings nd recommendations FA THE REP splV wax sed up the come enti ona ye nans and writen port poisons tor From the sift company tothe nd deropersummatized work Teiguite, conclasions, and seenmmendations (este an RAED. 'an luoduclon scion etned the concepts of bin, Le Chatcher's principle, andthe gener] bist of Xs flowed by a section ef obverse oni ee gp Bo Nee eet & A oF the a Roawcol Chains pring oo snl were the entre Students dearly payed the business core i ratty Ws etter with a protesi vegebsens] concersy whils others iapartd humor. in Instancegisere Mg? and Ca¥ were found mary fe PNA from a previous lab that these ions contebte jjaterand natedso, lncaes where baiust wos ound leters stated that aqoeos 3a" K toxic and tha either vemeta 1 even went ait Co point ou Oat this was just a “gultanve anaiyss and doat a guantittiv aalsss shoul abo be Ferforrsed prior to placing a biel on the property. A sample Teter fs included in the Supporting tnfarmat ne aNe as most students estted information that was provided in Ox Tandon Pechaps dae to Finlay f he top ram the ence portion dhe course studentshad Bele ditty er ‘esstion table and sting net fone equations for performed in the thd week. Generals stents invoked Le Chiteer'sprindpleorthe vale of Qh relative 20 Ky 0 explain their bserstios. Stident reports were more easly diferentiated on the aquabty ofthe owcharts and, a lesser estat, the discussions Represautative examples of goad, average, and poor fowhasts are protidad in. Eigueed C3, eespeciveys iv dhe Howchae repvedentatve of highest quay the seheme is accurate and well ceganized. i includes confimtory reactions comical speces are smitten properly, and ghase labels are cortecty applied Srroghout. Inthe Hlowchart representative of average geality fhe scheme Bs cozret, but many details, including phase lil, ace ommlte. In the flowchat representative of lowest gral even Fewer deta are provided atl chemical species are incor tect, The majotty (80%) was of average guilty with the remainder spt nearly equally between the extremes, Ke is important to note tht approximately 90% ofthe stadentseeated stable Howsharts. Ther are aatise ways to do this, Accom: ingly, flowcharts that separated fons in dif cnatwad, tough there ws a eae prefernce to rennve ether tarlurn or ammonium frst. The most eequently observed eons in the twcharts tere not ected to the actual separation, but rather to phase bei: and notation, Les than 10% of the flowcharts had olf ofthe species correctly Tabu. 5 sneer ‘OF STUDENT WORK fan at orders sone elope ss 2 hon he DST s 3 SS| | sournal of Chemical Education eae) igo Hoot ‘Sei ‘Sabo aca Bacon | [MT ae, “ teal area wad etaal [RR Naz0, Het songs Figure 3. Fai of a ow gusty ssbmison, Sear tothe average tear L ni Sens hb vain ection des ae moses | [Hera] Addison far the (elie) poesiptstos ae nibs em Samed aah _ Figure 1. Example of's high gualty abortion. Nesice the proper ppt of pane libel chin ofeoefmaiary reaions 2a we fof an werage submsison: The schemets vals but er tate prssent whan compared tthe higher ly Phase false ane absent and confimory rections ae _fftie alscusion section, students wore fey abe defen 4 scciowlopmentofthsicHonsharte Common abriet cep of {he epatimental work wasgiven lost adenovethe area é pee atin: renova to achieve mpsrtion. A tpi eset (GE is terge port would be “This este hoc each Seep laces ony oe element in mtion or oe lems ns nd these two things can be easy separted.” In aatéon, furhore of the higher qualltyrepors eed upon rir then interpreting their resets Sod th tis to ee wail unfnowns One stent rote, These om mnyprsousohsratonsthat aling KsC20 word propane ot fad Ca. Honeer ince my sarpl no longer Snot any Ba, tht only Cael reat out ipnesent.” ‘On the other hand, the dsceon sstions it the eepors of footer ytty wet br wage or nase, A stint hat eputenty ait not anve st the coreect wes ate “One oe phi be ding the st ina improper one. Fhvcould exe Sih a eter understanding ofthe sequence in which the hat be perfonne” Not snpiinghy, the dissbaton wich apect tus ofthe discon actions paralleled that for the gato the Hoc CONCLUSIONS A new series of QA laboratories were designed in which students apply logic and seasoning to develop their own How hortand use tin sepaciton and klentiiation of unknoaen ions. ‘The accompanying PBL module provides students with «ten ‘worklesample that hey eed to contestualizeand eonstrvet thei understanding. Additionally, reiting stadents 0 writ a fxr report, couphedvith the above strategy, contbute! mo impeotsd petiormance and leaening. Easel uon tudes Hovecarts, their “Ubsreports andthe instructors observations this experiment eas an inprosentent over traditional QA hheratories. Furthermore, the students enjoyed this series of ib experiments, particularly the eavironmenta asyee, even some found that creating theie fown flowchart equlied more efoet, These Tnborstories ha suceessfilly been wot ina college-level introductory chem 26 esto tae! en Bb 557