Abstract:

In the official report presented by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Burgos for the new degree in Chemistry there are seven main objectives. Two of them establish that the students should be able to value the relevance of Chemistry in the industrial, economic, environmental and social context, and to reduce to the minimum allowable the use and generation of pollutants, stimulating the ethical commitment of future professionals with environmental sustainability.
In the framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area, the academic and professional profiles of the Chemistry degree are related to the identification and development of skills and competences and to decisions about how a student should achieve them. Consequently, concern for the environment and the impact that the professional activity of a chemist may have in it are reflected in the competences of the degree in Chemistry of the University of Burgos. Among them are relevant the following: "to solve problems in an effective way" and "to be aware of issues relating to the environment", but many times these two aspects are in conflict and it is important to face the future chemist with this dilemma, at least at the laboratory level.
The present communication shows some practices in this context. The proposal comes from the experience of 20 teachers working in eight different subject areas and all teaching in the study-program of Chemistry in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Burgos. This guarantees the interdisciplinary character of contents, which is also important.
The proposed practices allow exercising and assessment of the above mentioned competences from two angles: (1) reduction of the quantity of solvents, and (2) obtaining a compromise solution between reducing the quantity of polluting solvents in a extraction or a synthesis and improving recovery.
For the first objective the student should carry out a solid phase extraction (SPE) a complex sample fortified with an analyte. The student must reduce the number of experiments needed to determine the factors influencing the extraction and propose the optimal experimental conditions. The main goal in the choice of a design (D-optimal, Hadamard or other) must be using the least amount of solvent and maintaining the quality of the experimental design.
For the second objective, the student should make a compromise decision (mixture of extractants or conditions of the synthesis) in view of the higher recovery and lower proportion of pollutant analytes.
The practices include an evaluation card, with its indicators, to assess these competences. This is helpful for the teachers and a form to imply the students in their learning process.

Keywords:

environmental sustainability, chemistry degree, laboratory practices, case study.