The introduction of microcomputers into the undergraduate teaching laboratory

The role of the technician in the chemical laboratory is undergoing a dramatic change as the computer makes inexorable inroads into the field of laboratory operations and instrumentation. The use of the computer in laboratories has progressed from the single mainframe in the large research institutions of20 years ago, through the free-standing micros in the mid 1970s, to the computers dedicated to individual instruments widely used today. These developments have resulted in an increasing range of laboratory employees, from junior technicians to section leaders, routinely coming into contact with computers. The education sector has not, in general, responded to these changes by appropriate changes to curricula to maintain the relevance of the education and training provided for potential laboratory employees. This paper describes the developments undertaken in one science department to attempt to satisfy the new demands being made on laboratory staff.