Lab-on-a-Chip: Frontier Science in the Classroom

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 95; no. 2; pp. 267 - 275
• Main Authors: Wietsma, Jan Jaap, van der Veen, Jan T, Buesink, Wilfred, van den Berg, Albert, Odijk, Mathieu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 13.02.2018; Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Beads; Chemistry; Classrooms; College Science; Educational Technology; Foreign Countries; Hands on Science; High Schools; Influence of Technology; Inquiry method; Interdisciplinary subjects; Lab-on-a-chip; Laboratory Equipment; Laboratory Experiments; Laminar flow; Laser beam cutting; Learning outcomes; Microfluidics; Micromixing; Molecular Structure; Production Techniques; Science Experiments; Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Secondary School Science; Secondary school students; Sheets; Students; Undergraduate Study; Netherlands; Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives; Laboratory Equipment/Apparatus; Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary; High School/Introductory Chemistry; Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning; Public Understanding/Outreach; Undergraduate Research; Microscale Lab; Nanotechnology
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00506

Lab-on-a-chip technology is brought into the classroom through development of a lesson series with hands-on practicals. Students can discover the principles of microfluidics with different practicals covering laminar flow, micromixing, and droplet generation, as well as trapping and counting beads. A quite affordable novel production technique using scissor-cut and laser-cut lamination sheets is presented, which provides good insight into how scientific lab-on-a-chip devices are produced. In this way high school students can now produce lab-on-a-chip devices using lamination sheets and their own lab-on-a-chip design. We begin with a review of previous reports on the use of lab-on-a-chip technology in classrooms, followed by an overview of the practicals and projects we have developed with student safety in mind. We conclude with an educational scenario and some initial promising results for student learning outcomes.