Development and use of simulated instruments to teach mass spectrometry to undergraduates Lavinia Mbongo, Morgan Johnson, Amy Managh Loughborough University, UK Recent years have seen a rise in the use of simulated analytical experiments to support the teaching of analytical science and the training of new staff. Whilst theoretical exercises can never fully replace practical based learning, they can be a useful tool supplement the teaching of highly specialised analytical technologies or applications that are not typically available to undergraduates. Herein, we report the development and use of simulation that provides undergraduates with virtual experience of tuning an inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), analysis of samples of industrial importance, and the interpretation of the resulting data. The experiments were based on data sets collected by research students and they provide experience of a range of medical, forensic, materials and pharmaceutical applications. The in-built exercises teach skills including qualitative and quantitative analysis, internal standardisation, overcoming spectral interferences and multivariate statistics. Here we report our observations from using the software with second year undergraduates and postgraduate masters’ students at Loughborough University, along with our thoughts on how simulations could be used to aid the teaching of analytical science in developing countries in the future. References 1. Torres-Freyermuth, A., Medellín, G., Martín, G. U. & Puleo, J. A., 2022. A virtual laboratory for conducting “hands-on” experiments on water wave mechanics. Elsevier. 2. Ray, S. & Srivastava, S., 2020. Virtualization of science education: a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Proteins and Proteomics, Volume 11, pp. 77-80. 3. Duan, B. et al., 2005. An online laboratory framework for control engineering courses. International Journal of Engineering Education, 21(6), pp. 1068 - 1075. 4. Potkonjak, V. et al., 2016. Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review. Computers and Education, Volume 95, pp. 309-327. 5. de Jong, T., Sotiriou, S. & Gillet, D., 2014. Innovations in STEM education: the Go-Lab federation of online labs. Smart Learning Environments, 1(3). 6. Gosman, A. D., Launder, B. E., Lockwood, F. C. & Reece, G. J., 1977. Computer assisted teaching of fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Computers and Education, 1(3), pp. 131-139. 7. Managh, A. J., Reid, P. & Knox, M. A., 2018. Development and Use of “ICP-MS TuneSim”: A Software App that Allows Students to Simulate Tuning an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. Journal of Chemical Education, Volume 95, pp. 2059 - 2063.
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