The Future of the Analytical Chemistry Curriculum

Upcoming free virtual presentations on analytical chemistry education

April 25: Holistic Teaching of Analytical Chemistry by Chuck Lucy

May 16: What do our analytical chemistry undergraduate students need to know? via the ANYL Education Committee

References from my 2025 Pittcon presentation

(1) Díaz-Vázquez, L. M.; Ortiz-Andrade, B. M.; Kovarik, M. L.; Morris, M. L. Active Learning Exercises Involving Building and Design. In Active Learning in the Analytical Chemistry Curriculum; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society, 2022; Vol. 1409, pp 181–204. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-2022-1409.ch011.

(2) Rosenberg, E.; Krska, R. Analytical Chemistry in Front of the Curtain! Anal Bioanal Chem 2024, 416 (8), 1787–1795. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05128-9.

(3) Committee on Professional Training. Analytical Chemistry Supplement, 2015. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/committees/training/acsapproved/degreeprogram/analytical-chemistry-supplement.pdf (accessed 2025-03-03).

(4) Kovarik, M. L.; Robinson, J. K. Collaborative Learning Exercises for Teaching Protein Mass Spectrometry. J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96 (5), 905–911. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00734.

(5) Renée Cole; Juliette Lantz; Suzanne Ruder. ELIPSS Home. https://elipss.com/index.html (accessed 2025-02-27).

(6) Hupp, A. M.; Kovarik, M. L.; McCurry, D. A. Emerging Areas in Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Education: Microfluidics, Microcontrollers, and Chemometrics. Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry 2024, 17, 197-219. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anchem-061622-041922.

(7) Enke, C. Fighting for Scraps? The Analytical Scientist. January 9, 2024. https://theanalyticalscientist.com/business-education/fighting-for-scraps.

(8) Van Wyk, A. L.; Frederick, K. A.; Lieberman, M.; Cole, R. S. Increasing Authenticity of the Laboratory through the MICRO Project: Analysis of Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Experiments for Their Level of Inquiry. J. Chem. Educ.2025, 102 (1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00945.

(9) Grinias, J. P.; Smith, T. I.; Kovarik, M. L. LCGC and ACS Subdivision on Chromatography and Separations Chemistry Survey 2023: What Skills Do New Analytical Chemistry Employees Need? LCGC N. Am. 2023, 284–286. https://doi.org/10.56530/lcgc.na.uc7884m3.

(10) Hunter, R. A.; Kovarik, M. L. Leveraging the Analytical Chemistry Primary Literature for Authentic, Integrated Content Knowledge and Process Skill Development. J. Chem. Educ. 2022, 99 (3), 1238–1245. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00920.

(11) Kovarik, M. L. Polymers, Macromolecules, and Nanomaterials in the Separation Science Curriculum. The LCGC Blog. Aug 2, 2021. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/the-lcgc-blog-polymers-macromolecules-and-nanomaterials-in-the-separation-science-curriculum.

(12) Larive, C. K. Revising the Quantitative Analysis Laboratory: What to Keep? What to Change? Anal Bioanal Chem 2006, 386 (5), 1191–1194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0747-0.

(13) Salary and Graduate Survey Highlights. https://www.acs.org/careers/salaries/surveys/salary-graduate-survey-highlights.html.

(14) Hamilton, D.; Castillo, A.; Atkinson, M. B. Survey of Instrumentation Use in Industry: What Does Industry Want New Chemists to Know? J. Chem. Educ. 2024, 101 (5), 1883–1890. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00990.

(15) Kovarik, M. L.; Galarreta, B. C.; Mahon, P. J.; McCurry, D. A.; Gerdon, A. E.; Collier, S. M.; Squires, M. E. Survey of the Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Curriculum. J. Chem. Educ. 2022, 99 (6), 2317–2326. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00090.

(16) Dicks, A. P. Teaching Greener & More Sustainable Analytical Chemistry to Undergraduates: Some Strategies & Tips. Green Analytical Chemistry 2023, 7, 100082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.greeac.2023.100082.

(17) Holme, T. A.; Bauer, C.; Trate, J. M.; Reed, J. J.; Raker, J. R.; Murphy, K. L. The American Chemical Society Exams Institute Undergraduate Chemistry Anchoring Concepts Content Map V: Analytical Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97 (6), 1530–1535. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00856.

(18) Adams, F.; Adriaens, M. The Metamorphosis of Analytical Chemistry. Anal Bioanal Chem 2020, 412 (15), 3525–3537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-02313-z.

(19) Claus, M. J.; Gionfriddo, E.; Monahan, J.; Whelan, R. J.; Vitha, M. F. Threshold Concepts in Analytical Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2023, 100 (2), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00674.

Pittcon 2019

Jessica Duong ’19, Rahuljeet Chadha ’20, and Prof. Kovarik traveled to Philadelphia, PA to attend Pittcon during spring break, March 16-20. We had a great reunion with former lab member Greg Kalminskii, who is currently finishing his degree at Swarthmore College.

Group photo

RJ Chadha ’20, Prof. Kovarik, Jessica Duong ’19, and Greg Kalminskii at the undergraduate poster session

Each of the students presented a poster on their work in the lab.

Jessica Duong ’19

RJ Chadha ’20

Greg Kalminskii

And we had a great time at the Expo…

ACS 2016 Philadelphia

Kunwei Yang and Allie Tierney presented their research at the fall national ACS meeting in Philadelphia this week.

ACS 2016 Philly

I also presented an overview of the lab’s work in a symposium honoring the Division of Analytical Chemistry’s awardee for chemical instrumention, Nancy Allbritton. Congratulations to Dr. Allbritton on her much-deserved recognition!