Mr. Charley Sexton
<b>Department: </b>Chemistry<br><b>Research Area: </b>I integrate technology throughout my teaching, including in laboratory instruction. First semester chemistry students often lack prior experience with lab techniques and equipment. To better prepare them, I propose collaborating with undergraduate scholars to develop how-to guides that demonstrate key procedures, proper equipment use, and safety protocols.
Department: Chemistry
Research Focus: I integrate technology throughout my teaching, including in laboratory instruction. First semester chemistry students often lack prior experience with lab techniques and equipment. To better prepare them, I propose collaborating with undergraduate scholars to develop how-to guides that demonstrate key procedures, proper equipment use, and safety protocols.
Potential Student Project(s): This project would focus on developing how-to guides for pre-lab preparation in the general, organic, and biochemistry for the health sciences course. These guides would introduce each lab, detailing the proper use of equipment, safe handling of chemicals, and correct techniques for common laboratory procedures.
Students collaborating on this project would help identify key chemicals, equipment, and techniques to feature in the guides. They could contribute content, create illustrations or diagrams, and assist in drafting and refining the materials. Students would participate in all aspects: researching procedures, developing clear step-by-step instructions, formatting the guides (e.g., as printable PDFs or interactive documents), and producing the final resources.
Attributes/skills/background sought in undergraduate:
Students must have completed a first-year chemistry course such as CHEM 101, CHEM 111, and/or CHEM 112. Students should have an interest in science, technology, and how technology can be used to teach science. This would be a great project for students majoring in science teaching.
Mentoring Plan: The project begins with students reviewing existing lab procedures and any currently available pre-lab/how-to resources. Faculty and students will then collaborate to prioritize which procedures need new how-to guides and determine the most effective formats and styles (e.g., step-by-step text, annotated diagrams, quick-reference layouts).
Participants receive training on relevant tools for content creation, such as document formatting software, diagramming programs, or digital design resources. Before finalizing each guide, we jointly review proper safety protocols, chemical handling procedures, and accurate techniques to ensure content precision and compliance.
All guide development strictly follows laboratory safety rules and institutional regulations. Post-drafting includes regular faculty feedback on drafts, guiding students through iterative revisions to produce clear, high-quality final how-to resources.
Contact: 765-285-8613, FB 319