focuses on a specific question that the students must au- swer about a biologically relevant problem. Each labora- tory module is designed a s an in-depth study lasting three to four weeks. "A a i d e d discoverv method" of teachiue the - - course is employed, and teamwork and decision making are emphasized. Computer prelabs are used to ensure that the students are confident in what they need to do when they enter the laboratory, and interactive videos help them to grasp difficult concepts. Novel computer-based exami- nations are beinp developed and tested. The tooics of four of the modules include: i) the chemistry of the stomach; 2) skin cancer; 3) lead poisoning; and 4) blood chemistry. The fifth module is designed to expose the undergraduate stu- dents to science teaching in the local primary and secon- dary schools. Each college student observes and partici- pates in a K-12 science classroom, reads articles in science education journals, works with a science teacher in a local school, designs and teaches a laboratory-based project for the K-12 classroom, and participates in discussions and evaluations about the science lesson that has been taught and the conclusions that have been reached ahout the teaching and learning of science.

Cooperative Organic Laboratories

Melanie M. Cooper Clemson University

DUE 9455526 $159,948

Most traditional organic chemistry laboratories tend to be of the cookbook type. That is students learn laboratory techniques and then use them to synthesize a given com- pound in a prescribed manner with a recipe. There is grow- ing unease within the chemical education community about the pedagogical value of such laboratories. The or- ganic laboratory course proposed here will build on the streneths of our eeneral chemistrv laboratorv courses. Stu- dents-will work & groups on open-ended proiects instead of one lab oeriod exercises. Instead of learnine a technioue a s - a n end in itself, techniques will be learned as a means to an end. Over the course of the semester. students will ao- ply their problem solving skills to projects approximati& the research process as closelv a s possible. The students will also use both their written a*d oral communication skills to plan, critique, and evaluate their experiments.

Anumber of resource materials will be developed including a multimedia program that incorporates video and text so that students can access information in the laboratory, and a laboratorv manual that will contain a database of twical ex- , . pwimental conditions and workup procrdurri in oddition to rlwrripti~~ns of techniques. This ntw I : h furm:lt will h:~\.r n s~gn~ficant impact on 11ou our students learn organlc chcmis- try nnd sill bc particularly beneficla1 to romen.

The principal vnlua of this project lies in its application AI.1. orplnic studrnrs, in thv vxpcxted irnprmwl per-

timnancc and highcr rctcntion rotcs for women and ill its adaptability to ocher situations

The Inorganic Illustrator: a 3D Graphical Supplement for Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry Courses Distributed on CDROM

Karl S. Hagen Emory University

DUE 9455567 $134,989

The visualization of comolicated three dimensional Inor- ganic, Bioinorganic, and ~ b l i d State chemical structures is a particularly difficult problem for students to overcome when the primary means of communication is the two di- mensional world of text books, blackboards, and overhead projector screens. Due to the increased performance and availability of personal computers, both instructors and

a s a means of communicating chemical information. The goal of this project is to provide on CDROM a wide variety of manipulatable molecular models, miniature movies, and dynamic animations that address the topics in Inor- ganic and Bioinorganic chemistry that will most benefit from a multimedia format. The free software Chem3D Viewer is being used to present a database of hundreds of accurate crvstal structures that will benefit students and teachers at all leiels who cncount6.r int,rg:inic structures. S tmd alune tutorials that describe the use of the wftwilrr and explain difficult structural concepts of inorganic chem- istry are being produced. Dissemination of test versions will be via the Internet, followed by the complete version on CDROM, and evaluated by polling users a t a variety of small and large institutions.

Introduction of Modern Instrumentation in the First Two Years of Chemistry: The lowa Chemistry Curriculum Network (IACCN)

Thomas J. Greenbowe lowa State University

DUE 9455646 $260,621

The obiectives of this project are to research. develoo. and incorporate three moduiar instructional resources & modern instrumentation into the first two years of college chemistry. The modules will contain instrnmentation-ori- ented components dealing with current real-world topics, group projkcts, updated teaching methods, student learn- ing assessments, emphasis on conceptual thinking interac- tive multimedia and exploratory laboratory experiments. Development of interactive, multimedia computer pro- prams that simulate the ooerations of the FT-IR. and FT- SMR spectrom6:tt:ri. from sample ht~ndling to dara acqui- s~t ion and work-uu will be d~,vt~loot~d in cullahoration u,ith Engineering ~n imat ion , Inc. A U k V E multimedia simu- lation has alreadv been develo~ed a t the Universitv of California a t ~ a n ~ i e g o . ~ c o n s o k i u m of Iowa's 15 con&u- nity colleges, three public universities, and four private colleges will collaborate on all aspects of the project through long-distance video conferences on Iowa's fiber-op- tics communication network and a t annual summer work- shops. This project will enable students and faculty in the entire state of Iowa to have facile access to modern instru- mentation (W-VIS, FT-IR and FT-NMR) via computer simulations. Iowa State university will serve as a clearing house for running actual chemical samples submitted by students of the participating institutions. The samples will be run on instruments a t Iowa State University, and the soectra will be made available to the students and facultv from the community colleges and private colleges over the internet (via anon fto. the world wide web. or bv e-mail) as . "

digital files or graphic images. This project will provide new curriculum enhancements and developments to four- year institutions and all community colleges in the state of Iowa.

A New Investigative Laboratory for Introductory Organic Chemistry Involving Polymer Synthesis and Characterization

Gregory B. Kharas DUE 9455681 DePaul University $70.000

This project i s developing a model comprehensive or- ganic laboratory curriculum that gives students the oppor- tunity to be imaginative and creative, leads to better un- derstanding of the conceots tha t underline scientific research, a& provides a n important connection between theoretical and practical organic chemistry. Individual ex- ploratory research projects are designed for the last quar- ter of a three-quarter laboratory course that internates the . .

students are beginning to embrace interactive multimedia

534 Journal of Chemical Education

instructor's risearch interests-with learning experiences