Digital Literacy

What is Digital Literacy?

The ability to

Today's university students are
increasingly digitally literate

How can we make laboratory and lecture content more useful to them?

• Design and develop content that is better suited to their capabilities
• Provide material that is accessible to a wider range of students
• Explore new opportunities for how content can be presented and used

How are we working
to meet students
"where they are"?

Provide lab manuals and related materials in digital formats

Improve uniformity of manuals across all laboratory courses

Incorporate online quizzes
to assess knowledge of content

Transition paper-based evaluations to the LMS

HTML
HyperText Markup Language

CSS
Cascading Style Sheet

JS
JavaScript

Benefits for Students

• Better user experience on digital platforms
• Attractive, easier to read documents
• Improved access to enriched content
• Interactive TOCs
• Reduction in paper waste

Benefits for Instructors

• Easy to create and upload files
• Edit content "on-the-fly" directly on the LMS
• Source files are stored on the D2L server
• Simplify creation of content using JavaScript

                        
                        

                        
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
                        

                        

                        
The Colours of Transition Compounds

                        
Introduction

                        
Objectives

                            
In this lab, you will determine the value of the crystal field splitting parameter for a series of octahedral d8 complexes from their visible spectra, construct a spectrochemical series for several ligands, and evaluate the effect of the charge on the central metal ion on the crystal field splitting parameter. The experiments chosen for this laboratory illustrate the systematic relationship existing between absorption energy and intensity and the nature of the ligands, or of the central metal ion: by the end goal of this laboratory you will understand thoroughly the optical manifestations of crystal field effects in octahedral complexes

                        
Background Information
    

                            
One of the most fascinating properites of compounds containing transition elements is the general occurrence of colour. The aesthetic appeal of this property has undoubtedly been one of the most important factors motivating scientists to understand its origin through the study of inorganic and coordination chemistry.

                            
The aesthetic aspects of inorganic pigments have played a significant role in man's rituals for thousands of years. Decorative body paints, gemstones, and stained glass are familiar examples. In fact, Europe's chemical industry grew out of the dye and pigment manufacture. In modern times, the investigation of the physical processes underlying the phenomenon of colour has enhanced our understanding of molecular and electronic properties. This understanding has, in turn, led to the development of sophisticated artifacts such as the ruby and the rare-earth-glass lasers.

                            
The colour properties of complexes of the first row transition elements may be explained in terms of the simple, but elegant, Crystal Field Theory, or by its slightly more sophisticated offspring, Ligand Field Theory. In this laboratory, you will have first-hand experience with experimental factors that led to the development of these theories.


                        
Theoretical Aspects of d8 Ion Spectra

                        
The Energy Levels of d8 Ions

                            

                                
 
                                    
                                
                            

                            
In an octahedral field, the ground term of a d8 ion (3A2g) can undergo excitation by promotion of one or two electrons (Fig. 1).The 3A2g term is non-degenerate (i.e. the electrons cannot be moved within the orbital set without changing their energies). Promotion of one electron gives an excited state, which appears to be six-fold degenerate (there are six ways that the electrons can be permuted within the orbital set). In fact, this configuration corresponds to two states of different energy (see below). The excitation of two electrons produces an excited state that is three-fold degenerate.

                            
In the field-free ion, there are two terms with two unpaired electrons (spin quartets): 3F and 3P. This situation arises because although individual d orbitals are all equivalent, pairs of d orbitals are not necessarily so. For example, the two arrangements shown in Fig. 2 give rise to two different interelectronic repulsions and therefore two different energy states. There are six ways of permuting two electrons between five orbitals, three in which the electrons are relatively close to each other [4T1g(P)4], and three in which they are relatively further apart [T2g(F)]. Although the d3 case is a bit more complicated, the conclusion is the same as for the d2 case.
                        

• Goal: expand our reach to cover all core undergraduate chemistry labs
• Implement a consistent style and format to improve students' familiarity with lab manuals
• JS databases can be used to simplify incorporation of common lab report sections

                        function bibentry(entry){

                        var result = 
                        {

                        "aktoudianakis_2008": {
                            "title": "'Greening Up' the Suzuki Reaction",
                            "volume": "85",
                            "doi": "10.1021/ed085p555",
                            "pages": "555",
                            "number": "4",
                            "journaltitle": "Journal of Chemical Education",
                            "shortjournal": "J. Chem. Ed.",
                            "author": "Aktoudianakis, E.; Chan, E.; Edward, A. R.; Jarosz, I.; 
                            Lee, V.; Mui, L.; Thatipamala, S. S.; Dicks, A. P.",
                            "date": "2008",
                            "ENTRYTYPE": "article",
                            "ID": "aktoudianakis_2008"
                            },

                

                
                    
References

                    

                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                            
                    
                

                function safety(chemicals) {
    var safety_statements = {
        
        'acetic acid': {
            'link': 'https://www.fishersci.com/msdsproxy%3FproductName%3DAC423220025%26productDescription%3DACETIC%2BACID%252C%2BGLACIA%2B2.5L%26catNo%3DAC42322-0025%2B%26vendorId%3DVN00033901%26storeId%3D10652'
            , 'name': 'Acetic acid'
            , 'hazard': 'flammable; causes severe skin burns and eye damage'
        },
        
        'acetone': {
            'link': 'https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=S25120C&productDescription=acetone&vendorId=VN00115888&keyword=true&countryCode=US&language=en'
            , 'name': 'Acetone'
            , 'hazard': 'highly flammable; causes serious eye irritation'
        },
                

• Useful in both lab and lecture courses
• For the lab, we want to ensure that students are prepared for their experiment
• Flexible - many parameters and restrictions possible

Online Quizzes: Pre-Lab

Online Quizzes: Final

• Current organic lab course evaluations are still done on paper (yikes)
• This doesn't translate to useful, reliable data
• Students deserve improved anonymity