Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy: A Guided Inquiry

Quantum Chemistry & Spectroscopy: A Guided Inquiry was developed to facilitate more student-centered classroom instruction of physical chemistry using Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL). The activities guide students through a wide variety of topics found in a typical undergraduate quantum physical chemistry course. The text introduces quantum phenomena, presents the postulates of quantum mechanics, and then applies these postulates to model problems of increasing sophistication – the particle-on-a-line (in one and two dimensions), the harmonic oscillator, the rigid rotor, and the hydrogen atom. The course fundamentals culminate with the electronic structure of multielectron atoms, term symbols, and Slater determinants. In addition, the text allows instructors to incorporate advanced topics in symmetry, mathematical structure of quantum theory, and spectroscopy to suit their course either interspersed with the fundamentals or at the end of the course. The guided inquiry activities pair well with a variety of physical chemistry texts and are appropriate for quantum first and thermodynamics first courses.

Kendall Hunt is excited to partner with The POGIL Project to publish materials in a variety of disciplines that are designed for use in active learning, student-centered classrooms.

POGIL is an acronym for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. Because POGIL is a student-centered instructional approach, in a typical POGIL classroom or laboratory, students work in small teams with the instructor acting as a facilitator. The student teams use specially designed activities that generally follow a learning cycle paradigm. These activities are designed to have three key characteristics:

• They are designed for use with self-managed teams that employ the instructor as a facilitator of learning rather than a source of information.
• They guide students through an exploration to construct understanding.
• They use discipline content to facilitate the development of important process skills, including higher-level thinking and the ability to learn and to apply knowledge in new contexts.