Student Content Assessments
Instrument 11: Chemistry Course Content Assessment
Project: Atomic
Absorption in the Undergraduate Laboratories
Trinity University
Funding Source: NSF - Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)
Purpose: To measure the impact on student learning of the use of an instrument in a university laboratory chemistry course
Administered To: Undergraduate
students
Topics Covered:
- Background Characteristics & Activities (Student):
experience
- Content Specific Assessment: chemistry, atomic absorption
Format/Length: 6
open-ended items
This questionnaire is being given to all students using the Varian SpectrAA 220 FS
instrument in a laboratory course. Your answers on this form will be used to assess
the effectiveness of incorporating this instrument throughout the chemistry curriculum.
This is a required procedure as described in our grant proposal to the National Science
Foundation. The NSF provided funds for 50% of the cost of this instrument.
Your answers will not be used to grade your performance in the laboratory course, but
rather to grade the NSF project. Your instructor may require that you complete the form
by some means but will not grade individual questions. Please answer each question to
the best of your ability. If you do not know the answer to a question, simply state that
you don't know. We are not interested in grading you but finding out and recording what
you know about this instrument and technique. Use as much space as is necessary (use
the back of this form or attach extra sheets) to provide a complete answer or
the necessary explanations.
This study has been approved by the Trinity University Institutional
Review Board. If you have any questions regarding the approval,
please contact, Chair Trinity IRB (999-xxxx). Your answers
will be kept confidential. Your participation involves no
risks or benefits to you.
Name:________________________________Class:_____________________Date
and Year:_____________
- Please describe your previous (if any) experience with atomic absorption (AA) and its related techniques.
- What types of analytes can be quantified by AA or related methods?
- Can AA be used to identify analytes? Explain.
- Describe the relationship between concentration of analyte and absorbance in AA.
- What are the approximate detection limits you might expect from flame AA?
- In AA the samples and standards are often in an acidic solution. Why?
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