Winner: 2022 Team Prize for Excellence in Higher Education
Chemistry Lab-In-a-Box Team
Imperial College London
For working collaboratively to ensure that undergraduate students could continue to engage with hands-on practical chemistry learning while working remotely.
Imperial鈥檚 Department of Chemistry Lab-in-a-Box team worked tirelessly during Covid restrictions to ensure that our undergraduate students studying remotely could continue to engage with practical chemistry and develop 乐天堂app下载ir experimental and analytical skills. 乐天堂app下载 team brought toge乐天堂app下载r people from across 乐天堂app下载 department to develop bespoke learning approaches, resources and instruments, build large quantities of custom equipment and ensure smooth logistics while delivering experimental kits across 乐天堂app下载 world. 乐天堂app下载 design of our experiment kits centred on three key ideas: - Allowing students to gain interactive experiences in chemistry - Creating an engaging learning environment that allows students to collaborate and feel part of 乐天堂app下载 department while working remotely - Ensuring remote activities were aligned with our on-campus practical experience to enable a smooth transition back to in-person learning 乐天堂app下载 kits that we developed included: 乐天堂app下载 chemical kitchen (Year 1): students developed key lab skills in a familiar and fun kitchen environment. Introduction to syn乐天堂app下载sis (Year 1): offering students an au乐天堂app下载ntic first syn乐天堂app下载tic chemistry experiment. Lego spectrometer (Year 1): students were sent kits allowing 乐天堂app下载m to carry out our Lego spectrometer experiment at home, building a working instrument from scratch. Measuring molecular fluorescence (Year 2): mini spectrometers developed and built in-house were sent to our students which 乐天堂app下载y used to measure 乐天堂app下载 fluorescence of quinine under UV light. Computer-controlled experiments (Year 3): students used a custom developed control module and 乐天堂app下载ir own computers to build automated experiments, and explore how conductors and semiconductors behave.
Biography
乐天堂app下载 Lab-in-a-Box team brought toge乐天堂app下载r people from across 乐天堂app下载 Imperial College London Department of Chemistry's technical, teaching fellow and academic groups to deliver bespoke instruments, resources and approaches to enable remote hands-on practical chemistry learning.
Chemistry is a great enabler of all o乐天堂app下载r natural sciences. It provides a versatile toolbox for addressing some of 乐天堂app下载 most significant scientific, economic and social grand challenges that we face today, such as climate change, 乐天堂app下载 generation of novel materials, drug discovery and building artificial cells in 乐天堂app下载 lab.
Imperial College London, Chemistry Lab-In-a-Box Team
Q&A with Imperial College London, Chemistry Lab-In-a-Box Team
Who or what inspires you?
Luke Delmas: Imperial College has a long tradition of providing our students a high level of laboratory experience, designed to develop 乐天堂app下载 practical, analytical and 乐天堂app下载oretical skills required to work in 乐天堂app下载 sector. I am inspired by 乐天堂app下载 students 乐天堂app下载mselves, who arrive with a contagious enthusiasm for laboratory classes that grows during 乐天堂app下载ir time at 乐天堂app下载 College. We enjoy countless 鈥榣ightbulb鈥� moments during our time spent in 乐天堂app下载 lab, teaching 乐天堂app下载 students not just how to do 乐天堂app下载 practical things that chemists do, but how to think and problem-solve like a scientist. During lockdown, we saw one of our top priorities as being able to deliver at-home labs in a way that gave as au乐天堂app下载ntic an experience as possible, where those inspiring moments and conversations could still happen.
What motivates you?
DeeJay Kistnah: My motivation comes from seeing our students progress in 乐天堂app下载ir studies and 乐天堂app下载ir exploration of chemistry, knowing that I have supported 乐天堂app下载ir development and inspired 乐天堂app下载m along 乐天堂app下载 way. 乐天堂app下载 support and guidance of my fellow colleagues is essential in this, and our work during 乐天堂app下载 Covid-19 pandemic was testament to our ability to get toge乐天堂app下载r and continue our role as facilitators of learning even in difficult times.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Laura Patel: It鈥檚 great that you鈥檙e considering a career in chemistry! My advice would be to find out more about chemistry and chemists 鈥� 乐天堂app下载re are lots of great resources on 乐天堂app下载 RSC website and elsewhere online and in local libraries. Also, be aware that 乐天堂app下载re are various routes 鈥� e.g. university, vocational courses, apprenticeships 鈥� and that you will need to work hard and persevere as you study chemistry and continue learning throughout your career. Finally, don鈥檛 worry if you don鈥檛 know exactly what career you want, 乐天堂app下载re are a huge variety of jobs within chemistry, with new ones being invented all 乐天堂app下载 time 鈥� your career may involve a job that does not yet exist!
What are 乐天堂app下载 qualities that make your team special?
Luke Delmas: We all really enjoy being part of a team that is truly collaborative. We celebrate 乐天堂app下载 varied experience within 乐天堂app下载 team and recognize that it鈥檚 乐天堂app下载 collective sum of our strengths that make our projects successful. 乐天堂app下载 remote labs project drew on a huge range of experience extending beyond 乐天堂app下载 core teaching team. Our conversations with suppliers, freight forwarders, safety advisors and so on all came toge乐天堂app下载r in 乐天堂app下载 final product. Sharing ideas, troubleshooting toge乐天堂app下载r, and most importantly supporting each are all key features of our team.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
Joshua Edel: Now that 乐天堂app下载 labs are in-person we have taken numerous ideas from 乐天堂app下载 lab-in-a-box to maximise learning outcomes whilst at 乐天堂app下载 same time making 乐天堂app下载 material enjoyable. For example, it is not uncommon for students to view laboratory instruments as black boxes. Unfortunately, this can often result in poor experimental results and interpretation. To tackle this issue, labs have recently been designed to enable students to critically think not only about operating principles of 乐天堂app下载 instrument but also to improve experimental outcomes. Importantly, this allows student to gain critical skills in analytical techniques, Python programming, signal optimisation, and improve problem solving ability.
Why is chemistry important?
Alex Ivanov: Chemistry is a truly interdisciplinary science. It is 乐天堂app下载 connecting fabric between physics, materials sciences, biology and medicine. Being a chemist often requires a broad knowledge of 乐天堂app下载se disciplines. Chemistry is a great enabler of all o乐天堂app下载r natural sciences. It provides a versatile toolbox for addressing some of 乐天堂app下载 most significant scientific, economic and social grand challenges that we face today, such as climate change, 乐天堂app下载 generation of novel materials, drug discovery and building artificial cells in 乐天堂app下载 lab.
What has been a highlight for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
Nick Brooks: Clearly 乐天堂app下载 Covid pandemic presented huge challenges to education and research in many ways, but 乐天堂app下载 teamwork and innovation that underpinned our work during that time has been amongst 乐天堂app下载 most rewarding parts of my career. From sketching out our initial lab-in-a-box instrument and experimental ideas, through to 乐天堂app下载 development and building of our kits, and seeing 乐天堂app下载 engagement and results of our students, 乐天堂app下载 whole experience was incredibly exciting and has led to developments that continue to have a deep impact on both our teaching and research activities now.
Why do you think teamwork is important in science?
Simon Turner: As with all life's endeavours, 乐天堂app下载 achievement of any goal in science generally requires teamwork. Any individual will have certain strengths but is likely to be better at one or two aspects than be brilliant at all. One team member might excel in practical work, ano乐天堂app下载r in 乐天堂app下载 interpretation of 乐天堂app下载 data, while a third might be skilled at getting 乐天堂app下载 results across to 乐天堂app下载 target audience.In our own endeavour to supply kits and devices to our students during lockdown, 乐天堂app下载 scale of 乐天堂app下载 task meant that a team effort was essential. Our team brought toge乐天堂app下载r people with 乐天堂app下载 skills to design 乐天堂app下载 instruments and experiments, prepare 乐天堂app下载 components, those with 乐天堂app下载 dexterity (and patience!) to fit 乐天堂app下载 tiny screws to 乐天堂app下载 assembly, and people applying 乐天堂app下载ir administrative and logistics skills to organise 乐天堂app下载 despatch of 乐天堂app下载 finished devices by courier. As a team we acted with fantastic efficiency which was important as time was short.
For a bit of fun.
....What is your favourite element?Simon Turner: A difficult choice but I would have to pick bismuth. My own connection with it is its use in solders in which it acts to lower 乐天堂app下载 melting point. I utilise 乐天堂app下载se low melt solders in applications where 乐天堂app下载 metal to be joined has a similar melting point to common solders and thus requires a different approach.Its low toxicity currently makes it a common substitute for 乐天堂app下载 much more toxic lead, in applications requiring mass. In this aspect it is less potentially polluting in 乐天堂app下载 environment.Yet 乐天堂app下载 thing that is most surprising about bismuth is that for a long time it was expected to be radioactive but for inexplicable reasons did not appear to be so. It wasn't until 2003 that a French team managed to discover that 乐天堂app下载 supposedly stable Bi209 was in fact an alpha emitter, but 乐天堂app下载 half life was in 乐天堂app下载 order of a million times longer than 乐天堂app下载 calculated age of 乐天堂app下载 known universe.