The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis as a Case Study to Introduce Concepts of Equity and Power into an Analytical Chemistry Curriculum

This work developed the Flint, Michigan water crisis as a modular case study for teaching traditional analytical chemistry concepts through the medium of environmental justice, power, and equity. An interdisciplinary framework was used to design, implement, and assess the case study in an effort to understand how the deliberate presence of emotional and human-centered content can impact student perceptions of learning analytical chemistry concepts. The six complementary modules of the case study included (1) a guided discussion of water, power, and privilege in Flint, (2) an in-class guided inquiry exercise introducing chemical concepts key to the water crisis, (3) a hypothesis-driven laboratory analysis of real Flint waters, (4) a statistical data validation exercise, (5) an introduction to software-based chemical equilibrium modeling, and (6) multiple modes of scientific translation to nonscientists. Specific analytical chemistry concepts covered in the case study included systematic treatment of multiple equilibria, activity, solubility, and Pourbaix diagrams. Students were also exposed to a variety of wet-chemical and instrumental analysis techniques. Student-collected data were vetted and validated through guided statistical and error analysis, and later constructed into a software-based chemical equilibrium model. Finally, students synthesized and translated these multiple knowledge forms into a communication medium accessible by both the Flint community and the Karegnondi Water Authority. By framing the chemistry in a real-world setting, the case study exemplified both the challenge and importance of chemical measurement and error analysis in scientific translation and communication to real people. Student survey data indicated that the interdisciplinary nature of the case helped students emotionalize and humanize the abstract chemical content. Overall, the case elicited strong positive feedback from student participants in three pilot versions of the case study to date.