Commentary

Both classroom instruction and laboratory experiences are required in analytical chemistry courses at the undergraduate level. The theoretical basis, operational principles, and applications of all types of instruments can readily be taught in an undergraduate classroom. However, experiments involving techniques such as GC- MS/LC-MS are often excluded from undergraduate laboratories due to the high cost of commercial equipment and the corresponding maintenance fees. The author proposes the creation of a visual information archive to address the problem of unavailable instrumentation-based experiences in the laboratory portion of undergraduate instrumental analysis courses. In order to establish such a website, basic guidelines and standard operating procedures would be developed so that educational institutions and/or instrumentation companies can shoot videos according to the guidelines, and then deposit them to the archive. A group of principal investigators who are interested in taking leadership could apply for a National Science Foundation grant to initiate the process of developing the single universal website. The American Chemical Society (ACS) could then take over the continued responsibility of managing and maintaining the portal. At a later time, the website could be further developed to allow users to virtually practice the use of major instruments such as those included in the six categories recommended by the ACS Committee on Professional Training. Although it is a virtual training experience, users still gain active exposure to the procedures and machinery, which requires more interaction and engagement than merely learning the theoretical basis and operational principles from a textbook.