The Value of Failure: A Student-Driven Course-Based Research Experience in an Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Lab Inspired by an Unexpected Result

• Stephen T. Heller ^[1] ; Andrew P. Duncan ^[2] ; Cheryl L. Moy ^[3] ; Sarah R. Kirk ^[2]
  1. [1] Loyola Marymount University

     Loyola Marymount University

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Willamette University

     Willamette University

     Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] Carolina Friends School, United States

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 97, Nº 10, 2020, págs. 3609-3616
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Research experiences are widely understood to be valuable for the intellectual and professional development of undergraduate science students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have become popular as a means of engaging large numbers of students in research by leveraging institutional supports for laboratory courses. At Willamette University, we have adapted a guided-inquiry experiment that gave unexpected results into a CURE in the lower-division organic chemistry curriculum. This experience has engaged several cohorts of students in a 7 week investigation focused on identifying the mechanistic origin of a nonstereospecific hydroxybromination of Z-stilbene, an observation that contradicts how this addition reaction is presented in standard organic chemistry curricula. Each year, the cohort experimentally “discovers” the anomalous stereochemical outcome of the addition reaction. Students then participate in a workshop focused on developing mechanistic hypotheses that can account for the result and on designing experiments that will address their hypotheses. Over the next three lab sessions, students execute their experiments, reconsidering and revising their hypotheses as their data dictate. The experience culminates in formal oral and written presentations of results. Student perceptions of the pedagogical value of the CURE, the effect of the lab on their self-efficacy, and the novelty of research being conducted were assessed in multiple class cohorts, while faculty perceptions of changes in student behavior and skill were also documented.