L. CARROLL KING Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
SUPERIOR students interested in chemistry often come to the university equipped with an excellent background in high school chemistry and mathematics. For these people a t least a part of the traditional first year college chemistry course is repetitious, and there is need for a chemistry program wherein the student can make full use of his background for more rapid progress into advanced courses. At the same time our experience indicates that these superior students are in no position to bypass the discipline of the first year college course and compete in advanced chemistry courses with the student who has completed a full year of college chemistry.
wherein the students, using very simple apparatus, determined certain fundamental constants such as Avogadro's number,= the charge on the electron, the absolute zero and K,. About half of the laboratory time was devoted to semimicro qualitative analysis. I n the third quarter of the freshman year the student is permitted to take the first course in quantitative analysis which is designed to teach the techniques of volumetric and gravimetric analysis and to advance the principles of equilibria and end point estimation to the point where the student is able to perform and evaluate ordinary analytical procedures.
THE NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PLAN
SELECTION OF STUDENTS
Some time ago Northwestern University established a special first year chemistry course to meet this challenge. This course was designed in such a way that the superior student could complete college chemistry equivalent to general chemistry and qualitative analysis during the first two quarters of the freshman year, thus leaving the third quarter for a course in quantitative analysis or an elective subject. The student electing quantitative analysis during the third quarter of the first year is qualified t o enroll in organic chemistry or physical chemistry during the second year. For the first two quarters of the freshman year the superior student is given an intensive course in general chemistry and qualitative analysis. This course is the only academic duty of a single faculty member and the -progressof the class is adjusted to suit the needs of the group. Areas well understood by the students such as gas laws and problems related thereto, and certain phases of purely descriptive material are covered quickly. Areas in need of extended discussion such as equilibrium, acid-base theory and the more subtle aspects of structure, periodic classification and valence are covered with as muchdetail as needed. A special set of laboratory experiments was devised
The special course is listed in the college catalogue as: "A two-quarter course equivalent to general chemistry and qualitative analysis. Intended for superior students who have had a superior high school chemistry course.'' Each year about 150 freshman students seek admission. Of these, 25 are selected. Selection is based on a placement examination, on high school records, and on college board examinations. Application for admission to the course is voluntary. Qualified students are admitted without regard to their special interests. Most of the students who were qualified for the course had four years of high school mathematics. This was not a requirement for admission but apparently was a result of the selection process.
Presented as part of the Symposium on New Ideas in the Four-Year Chemistry Curriculum before the Division of Chemical Education at the 132nd Meeting of the American Chemical Society, New York, September, 1957.
OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
This special course is now in its fourth year. Students of the course have invariably proved their ability to compete on even terms with older students in the advanced courses. It is quite clear that the students completing the special first year course have the advantage of being able t o have a flexible program of courses in mathematics and physics as well as in chemistry during their last three years of college work. See KING,L. CARROLL, AND E. I. NEILSEN, J. CAEM.EDUC., 35,198 (1958).
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
