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Conversation with Ben Shoulders

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the primary analytical technique used in the synthesis of new molecules. One of the first research scientists to use NMR, Dr. Ben Shoulders, from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin needed a way to help students understand the technique.

Dr. Shoulders wanted to create a computerized, self-contained quiz tool to test students’ knowledge of NMR. He approached DIIA’s Center for Instructional Technologies for help in developing an assessment tool. Dr. Shoulders needed a graphic representation of how the nuclei of atoms behave within a magnetic field and produce a distinctive signal. By studying this signal, students can extrapolate the knowledge to new compounds and predict how those compounds will behave.

CIT’s Denise Ketcham and her supervisor Dave Campbell chose the new IMS Questions and Test Interoperability Specification (QTI) for Dr. Shoulder’s application. The IMS Global Learning Consortium develops specifications and standards to make assessment tools portable and re-useable.

Denise realized that Dr. Shoulder’s project was a perfect opportunity to address QTI issues relating to visual questions. Converting lectures and graphs into a tutorial presented new challenges as the project developed. Denise used XML and Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) to create the interface and response processing so that students could “drag and drop” a graphic representation of the signal on the screen to “hotspots” that characterize particular molecular groups. She chose Java to access the XML documents. “I had fun creating the interface for this project and I can now develop similar types of assessment tools with XML. These tools could extend to different disciplines as a visual testing mechanism,” said Denise.

With over 30 years of experience in NMR spectroscopy, Dr. Shoulders teaches a graduate course in experimental NMR and another in the interpretation of NMR spectra. “We predict behavior by observation of the spectra created, and after you examine these signals for a large number of molecules you can start to expect certain behaviors for other compounds. This skill is very important and is being used in enzyme kinetics, molecular structure determination, and detecting contamination,” explains Dr. Shoulders.

Dr. Shoulders has debuted the tutorial for approximately 200 students at Baylor University, North Texas State University, San Angelo State University and Texas State University. Reactions from students have been very positive. Dr. Shoulders is looking forward to an updated version of the NMR tutorial featuring audio instructions read by a text reader. “The new version will be even more user-friendly,” says Dr. Shoulders with a smile, “as you can choose the gender of the voice for the tutorial’s instructions.”