Use of an Aquatic Ecosystem in Undergraduate Chemistry Curricula Kenneth 0. Hughes Georgia Institute of Technology The project makes use of a large aquarium as an aquatic ecosystem on which concepts and techniques of analytical chemistry are developed. Chemical monitoring of all aspects of the ecosystem will be the basis for a part of the laboratory experience. The curriculum, already introduced at the introductory level, now will be expanded to the third-auarter freshman-level chemistrv class. Classes includes'prospective chemistry, engineeAg, textile, and biolocrv maiors. The course modificationsintroduce relevant pr&em" from the real world into the laboratory curriculum, stimulate increased interest in chemistry, and possibly increase the number of chemistry majors at this level. The affect on the juniorlsenior analytical curriculum will be to significantly increase the amount of time available for training and independent work on modern instrumentation. i he course modifications will provide a greater appreciation for the field of chemistry and the role it plays i i i h e environment and all biologicai processes. Molecular modeling for the lntroductory Organic Chemistry Courses James R. Kee& San Francisco State University The ~ m i e c is t develo~inemolecular modeline/com~utational ih&istry experhe& for use in frsby&r organic chemistw courses. Comuutational chemistw. ra~idlvbecoming & almost routine tool for academic &d indu&ial chemists. offers an unusually good opportunitv for students to investigate efficiently variety of molkcular attributes including conformational stabilitv. Dreferred bond angles and lenGhs, energies of reaction; and reaction pathways. Results can provide rationalization of known data, or predictions subject to verification. These benefits will a m e only with the aid of a high quality, integrated visualization environment, a feature central to our project.
a
Use of Multimedia in an Introductory Chemistry Course for Student Analysis of Real-Life Siuations Melvin 0. Joesten Vanderbilt University
$200,000
The laboratorv of introductom eolleee science courses provides an exceilent opportunit; to improve both the attitudes and scientific literacy of liberal arts students and prospective teachers. This project is developing six 10-minute videodisc programs with associated Hypercard stacks that add a "real-life" component to the laboratory experience in an introductory chemistry course for nonscience majors. Since elementary school teachers will play a key role in increasing scientific literacy and in changing public attitudes toward science, the six videodisc program include elementary classrwm scenes where elementary students are doine ex~loratorvactivities based on the exueriment the college student has just completed. This pr&des both urosuective teachers and other liberal arts students an &prtbity to look for misconceptions and science content errors. All students view the appropriate videodisc
508
Journal of Chemical Education
vromam at the end of the laboratow period. and their re;poises to the questions raised in thi prop& are an internal . videodisc uro-part of the experimental w r i ~ u vThe grams with a c c ~ ~ ~ a n~~~i n~ ge r cstacks a r d are being transferred to CD ROM discs to provide students easy access when they are preparing lahratory reports. Chemistry Domesticated: An Alternative Curriculum for the TwoSemester lntroductory College Chemistry Course Richard D. Cornelius Lebanon Valley College
$ 1 50,000
Chemistrv Domesticated is umvidine a radical chanee in how the m&rial in general'chemis& is organized-and how it is presented to students, while leaving intact much of the material that must prepare students for further courses in chemistry and other sciences. The chemical topics in a particular &apter are being chosen on the basis nit of the chemist's view of the world, hut of what chemistrv is necessary for the understanding of materials and activities familiar to students. Subjects such as Soil and Fertilizer, Blood, The Laundry Room, and Ice Cream are being chosen to provide a foundation for a broad range of topics in general chemistry. Numerous appropriate ex~erimentsand demonstrations. some already published &the science education literature; are being included in Chemistry Domesticated. The proposed cumculum is intended not to displace the current general chemistry curriculum, but to provide an alternative. A Comprehensive Reshaplng of the College Chemlstry Experience I. David Reingold Juniata College
A complete restructuring of the material traditionally covered in the first three years of college chemistry curricula is being undertaken. The new structure solves many of the problems found with the traditional approach, including the widely advertised shortcomings of the freshman course and the less-widely acknowledged problems with the organic course. Chief among the problem with the latter is that it coven too much synthetic chemistry and too little biochemistry for the majority of the students taking it. who tend to be biolow and uremedical students. Our shutionis to move the o i & i c c k s e to the freshmanyear and tailor it to its audience. em~hasizine .. biomedical connections and removing much of ;he pure synthetic organic chemistrv. Obviouslv. this has a trickle-down effect on the rest of t6e curricul& some of what used to be freshman chemistm is now being taueht in the souhomore vear. as inorganii and analyti& chemistry, and the of organic omitted from the freshman vear are beine addressed in the junior year. he restructu&g is giving us the opportunity to work with the biolom department in a comulete overhaul of laboratories for thitirsi two years, resulting in a joint freshman laboratow. experience and an intensifica. tion of the sophomore lab experience. Finally, a course designed to introduce environmental science is beina cre-
