A SURVEY OF SHORT COURSES IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY' BERNARD NELSON Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
Tms snrvey was conducted by the Organic Subcommittee, Examinations Committee, Division of Chemical Education, in the spring of 1954, to determine: (1) the interest among college teachers in a standardized test for a short course in organic chemistry; (2) the course contents and the time allotted to individual topics; and (3) the effect on the course of the professional objectives of the students. Three hundred ninety-five questionnaires requesting pertinent information were sent to 38 junior colleges, 255 colleges, and 102 universities offering a one-term organic course. One hundred forty-five replies out of 226 indicated an interest in the test varying from a willingness to participate in its construction to possible usage. The content of any course is frequently influenced by the textbook, the laboratory manual, the length of term, and the hours per week in the class and laboratory. Twenty-two textbooks and 28 laboratory manuals had been adopted. Among the textbooks the two foremost were used by 35 per cent and 12 per cent of the schools, which represented 46 per cent and 12 per cent of the student enrollments, respectively. The two most frequently used laboratory manuals had been adopted by 20 per cent and 10 per cent of the schools, which represented 17 per cent and 16 per cent of the student enrollments, respectively. Approximately 18 per cent of the teachers within each kind of school preferred to prepare their own laboratory work sheets. The student enrollment was nearly G200, with classes having from four to 600 enrollees, whose profe~sional goals were primarily home economics, medicine, dentistry, agriculture, and nursing, with others having an interest in engineering, chemistry, biology,and teaching. The prerequisites to the one-term organic course were from three to ten semester hours of general chemistry, with 55 per cent of the schools requiring a minimum of eight hours. A few schools required a working knowledge of qualitative analysis. Seventy-five per cent of the schools offered the course for one semester (15 to 18 weeks), 17 per cent for one quarter (10 to 12 weeks), and 8 per cent for two quarters (22 to 26 weeks). Seventy-one per cent of the schools had three lectures per week, 20 per cent had two lectures per week, and 9 per cent had four or five lectures per week. Three to six hours per week were set aside for laboratory work by 80 per cent of the schools, while 12 per cent had one to two hours of laboratory or demonstration and 5 per presented st the 126th ~~~~i~~ ,f the ~~~~i~~~ chemical Society, New York, September, 1954.
cent had no laboratory work associated with the course. The table presents the percentage of time devoted to the more important individual topics. The time was approximately the same for all three types of school and was in remarkable agreement whether the aliphatic and aromatic series were taught separately or simultaneously. The apparent overemphasis upon the hydrocarbons may be attributed to the time consumed in introducing nomenclature rules, organic structures, or other concepts necessary to the understanding of organic chemistry. The ratio of time for the aliphatic series to that for the aromatic series averaged nearly three to one. Percentage of Time per Topic
,, I wo series Two series taught together h g h t separately
Topic
i id derivatives (esters; fats; amides; halo-, hydroxy-, and acidhalidesandanAldehydes, ketones Alcohols, phenols Acids CarPohydrates Amlnes Halogen derivatives Proteins a it^^^^^ derivatives (nitri~es, nitro-cpds.)
%%$ :;
2khpelations,
Formulas (structural) Dyes ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Reaction mechanisms Sulfur derivatives Heterocyclics Vitamins Stereoisomerism Sterol8
~
r
20.6%
16.7%
13.5 10.4 9.5 6.4 6.9 6.1 4.4 4.8
12.7 9.3 9.3 6.9 6.0 5.9 5.5 4.2
2.3
3.7
21.0 .4 2.4 1.5 01.6 {. 3 1.1 0.7 0.3
2.3 3 0 1.8 1.4 1.3 1 ~. 2 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.4
1.7 0.5 0.3
~
~
m
In summary, the ratio of time spent upon the fundamental topics in organic chemistry was affected only in a small degree by the type of school, length of course, textbook, or professional goals of the students. The construction of a standardized test will be undertaken, employing the data of the table, which probably represents the scope of the course but not necessarily its intensity. I n addition, it is hoped that the above figures may provide a useful guide to teachers in the distribution of their time and in the development of the organic course content.
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