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Surf Diaries 2005
Extra Curriculum?SURF Student Develops New Lab Experiments at Randolph-Macon College Signing up for and taking classes is a standard part of every college student’s life, but expanding the curriculum? Kari Cox, a senior and chemistry major at Randolph-Macon, designed new labs and experiments for the chemistry curriculum at R-MC by way of the college’s 2005 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. While most college students spent their summer relaxing by the pool, Kari was busy drafting labs and experiments for the DLK-60, an electrochemical analyzer and a new addition to R-MC’s chemistry department. One of the experiments Kari, a Mechanisville, Va., native, explored was a way for students to use the DLK-60 to determine the concentration of hydrogen gas produced by a system. A second experiment she designed asks students to measure the potential of different fruits using the DLK-60 to determine which fruit makes the best battery. Now that Kari’s experiments are complete, not only will they be used at R-MC, they also will be submitted to the “Journal of Chemical Education” for faculty around the country to adapt and use in the classroom. "I participated in SURF last summer and it was an excellent opportunity,” said Kari, who developed four new experiments for another piece of chemistry equipment in 2004. “I gained a lot of research experience, which will help me with my career after graduation. I want to be a high school chemistry teacher and this summer and the last have provided me invaluable experience in designing laboratory assignments.”
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