In this project we develop a small, cheap and modular spectrometer for educational purposes. The optical elements are held by wooden blocks that can be freely positioned on a table. With LED light sources with visible and UV light both absorption and emission can be measured with better 10nm absolute optical precision. The spectrometer produces a clearly visible link between absorbed, apparent and fluorescent color and is embedded in a number of problem based learning task that include the measurement of stokes shift and fluoresence quantum yield.
We use this spectrometer in graduate and undergraduate education as well as for many outreach activities. It is a part of different modules that are designed to facilitate active learning.