Bringing NMR and IR Spectroscopy to High Schools

Development of benchtop, portable Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectrometers has opened up opportunities for creating university high school partnerships that provide high school students with hands-on experience with NMR and IR instruments. With recent changes to the international baccalaureate chemistry and advanced placement chemistry curricula, NMR and IR spectroscopy can be mapped directly to content that is already built into general, organic, and materials courses offered at the high school level. We developed a program in which the university provides professional development opportunities to high school chemistry teachers and further opportunities for these teachers to bring benchtop NMR and IR instruments directly into their own classrooms. This partnership not only benefits students by providing unique active learning experiences, but also offers opportunities for high school teachers' professional development through on-campus training workshops. These partnerships may also expand university outreach efforts in local secondary schools to increase student awareness of the sciences and bolster recruitment of students.