Abstract:

Due to the diversity of undergraduate degrees with which students enter the Master`s degree in Chemical Science and Technology (MCST) at the University of the Balearic Islands, certain deficiencies, that hinder the achievement of the planned competences and outcomes, have been detected. It has been observed that the students coming from the degree in Chemistry do not present in general any difficulty with the contents and / or skills that are addressed in the Master, while the rest of students, possessing other bachelor degrees (biology, biochemistry, engineering in general, pharmacy, among others), usually have difficulties for a fluid teaching-learning environment.

For this reason, the present project proposes the development of a complementary educational material for virtual learning, which allows to complete or strengthen the basic knowledge related to two mandatory courses of the MCST, dedicated to instrumental techniques, that is, Atomic Absorption and Emission Spectrometry and Liquid and Gas Chromatography, thus facilitating the acquisition of advanced skills provided by the courses mentioned above.

The educational material is composed by documents focused on chemical fundamentals and principles of the detection techniques, complemented by short videos showing the instruments and the analytical signals obtained. Moreover, several exercises and activities are proposed in order to familiarize the student with practical issues, which need to know prior to the laboratory practices. Finally, various self-evaluation tests are available on-line

Keywords:

Design of virtual learning environment, complementary teaching material, higher education, basic skills.