Enhancing Organic Chemistry Education: Acquisition of a Desktop Mass Spectrometer and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Educational Instrumentation project at Suffolk Community College, a two-year institution in New York, will strengthen undergraduate learning and experiences in organic chemistry. Specifically, this project will secure a desktop Mass Spectrometer (MS) and a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer (NMR), which will allow students to engage in hands-on learning in Organic Chemistry I and II courses. An estimated 100 students will utilize the project-funded equipment each year. In addition to providing improved experiences in chemistry courses, the new equipment will also be used by student clubs and as part of public outreach and recruiting events at the institution. The goals of this project are to enrich the learning and experiences of undergraduate students by providing critical equipment in chemistry. Students in pre-professional programs and pursuing degrees in chemistry and biology will be able to improve their practical skills in modern laboratory techniques and enhance their understanding of chemical structures and reactions. Exposure to MS and NMR techniques will provide a modern learning experience and improve their competitiveness for the workforce and transfer to 4-year institutions. The project will assess the impact of the project-funded equipment through consideration of equipment usage rates and costs, student success in the organic chemistry courses, performance in impacted laboratory courses, and artifacts from project-related faculty professional development opportunities. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and increase capacity to engage in the development and implementation of innovations to improve STEM teaching and learning at HSIs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.