Lessons from a multidisciplinary advanced lab course (Part 1 of 2)

We present an overview and lessons learned from an interdisciplinary physics and chemistry instrumentation course taught at a primarily undergraduate institution of 4,500 students. This course served 3rd year students in a BS in Applied Sciences program, a multidisciplinary science major. During the first two months of the course, students performed experiments with and analyzed instruments commonly used in chemistry and physics. The focus was on data analysis and practical limitations of the techniques. In the final month, students built on this foundation with projects expanding the capabilities or testing the limits of these instruments.

Part 1 introduces the goals and methods of the course and summarizes the chemistry modules.

Part 2 summarizes the physics modules of the course and presents ideas for improving multidisciplinary lab courses.