Resumen de Integrated Laboratories: Crossing Traditional Boundaries.
Debra K. Dillner, Robert F. Ferrante, Jeffrey P. Fitzgerald, William B. Heuer, Maria J. Schroeder
A new, integrated laboratory curriculum was recently developed at the U.S. Naval Academy in response to the 1999 ACS Committee on Professional Training guidelines that required inclusion of biochemistry and a stronger emphasis on student research. To meet these ACS requirements and to introduce more student choice in the major, we embarked on a complete redesign of the laboratory program, reducing eleven credit hours of traditional laboratory courses into a cohesive, eight-credit, four-semester sequence of integrated laboratory courses covering the core areas of chemistry. These courses are designed along broader themes with many experiments simultaneously exploring concepts from two or more subdisciplines of chemistry. Although the integrated laboratory concept has been applied at other institutions, this curriculum is unique in its design and scope. The program begins in the sophomore year and is completed in the junior year, allowing students to pursue research and advanced courses in their senior year. The integrated laboratory concept offers many attractive benefits, although there are potential difficulties: several of these are discussed as well. This paper may assist faculty contemplating a similarly comprehensive curricular change to carefully weigh the factors neccessary to determine the feasibility and sustainability of such a program in their own unique educational environment.
