Opportunistic use of students for solving laboratory problems: Twelve heads are better than one

A simple framework to make use of undergraduate students as a resource in solving problems has been trialled. Student volunteers were provided with symptoms of a problem and given free rein to interpret the problem for themselves. A pre-laboratory planning workshop facilitated constructions of good experimental designs and repeated referral of students to research aims encouraged them to act with purpose. The production of a written report enabled assessment of the interpretation of results and easy extraction of data for subsequent meta-analysis. The problem arose from a part of the undergraduate laboratory course, therefore, the theoretical and skill levels were appropriate for the level of the students. The results show that students did good quality experiment work. The need for teaching support is noted. It is suggested that this approach has benefited the students by giving them research experience. The benefit to me as the ‘client’ has been a wealth of experimental data and insight into the chemistry from unexpected analyses of results by the students. A preference for group working is noted.