Erik Joling Microscale chemistry in the Netherlands

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Erik JolingMicroscale chemistryin the
Netherlands

• UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
• Faculty of Science

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Four points of view

• Industry and government (I)
• Teachers in secondary education (T)
• University (U)
• Pupils (P)

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Where are the Netherlands?
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What are the Netherlands?

• A small country between England (overseas),
  Germany and Belgium
• 9220 km (5730 miles) from Mexico City
• 15,750,000 people
• Worlds largest port Rotterdam
• Home of Shell, Akzo-Nobel, Unilever, DSM

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What is produced in the Netherlands?

• Windmills (a few)
• Wooden shoes (some more)
• Flowers (lots)
• Peanut butter (Worlds 2)
• Chemicals (tons)

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Chemical industry (I)

• Largest branch of industry
• 60 bulk / 40 fine
• 15 of industrial production
• 20 of industrial export
• 10 of employment

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Chemical industry (I)

• Twice as much academics as in other branches
• Achilles heel number of chemists educated

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Interest in chemistryFinal exams 1999 (I)
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Interest in chemistry Final exams 1999 (I)
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Interest in chemistryFirst-year students in 1999
(I)

• University 537 (2)
• Higher Laboratory Education 472
• Higher Vocational Education 214

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Consequences for secondary chemistry education (I)

• Chemical industry and government are willing to
  spend money!
• Schools adopted by companies
• Projects are initiated and supported
• AXIS-project to promote science and technology

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Change of doctrine in upper-secondary education
(T)

• Studiehuis study-home
• independent learning
• streams
• projects
• introduced summer 1998 and 1999

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Consequences for secondary chemical education (T)

• Need for a real-life approach
• Need for example projects
• Need for a student oriented lab

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Late eighties (U)

• Universiteit van Amsterdam
• Desire for a microscale laboratory in second year
• Mayo, Pike Trumper
• Microscale Organic Laboratory
• very interesting
• too expensive

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Method and kit (U)

• Williamson
• Macroscale and microscale organic experiments
• economical

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Introduction into the curriculum (U)

• Williamson visited Europe
• instruction for PhD students
• summer 1989
• half of the second year organic lab miniaturised
• winter 1990
• conversion complete

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Results (U)

• Reduction of
• waste
• chemicals
• cost of breakage to 15

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Further steps (U)

• summer 1997
• second year inorganic lab miniaturised
• Szafran, Pike, and Singh
• Microscale inorganic chemistry

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Consequences for secondary chemical education (U)

• Lecturer was member section chemical education of
  the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society
• promoted microscale chemistry
• initiated a project

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Project Microscale experiments

• Universiteit van Amsterdam
• Chemistry Communication Center Foundation
• November 1996 - December 1999
• glassware
• low-cost heating device
• manuals
• training

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Glassware
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Low-cost heating device
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Manuals

• Adaptation of existing experiments
• Teachers manual and students manual
• are loose-leaf
• flexible
• rearrangeable
• supplements

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Training

• Over 330 schools (gt 50)
• 600 teachers
• One afternoon training
• on-site
• at the University

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Future plans

• more experiments
• projects including a teacher-training
• coupling with computer (Coach 5)
• PhD-research project
• another road to organic chemistry
• Axis-project
• Industry on microscale

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Industry on microscale

• 3-year project
• teachers and industrial chemists work together to
  make
• teaching materials related to real contexts
• blueprint for school-company co-operation

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Other microscale initiatives (UI)

• Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• Chemistry Communication Center Foundation
• Chemistry in droplets

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Other microscale initiatives (T)

• Frans Killian (teaching assistant)
• Aonne Kerkstra (teacher)
• Miniaturisation of their own school laboratory
• 96-well microplates
• micro titrations
• µ-GLC

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(P) Why microscale experiments?

• Michael Schallies (Heidelberg, Germany)
• We must focus on the 95 pupils that do not
  choose to become a chemist
• Their chemistry in school is the only change in
  their lives to explore nature by experimenting

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Contact me

• micro_at_chem.uva.nl
• www.chem.uva.nl/chemeduc/microschaal
• /MicroQuim2000