John P. Fackler, Jr. Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Advanced Placement in Chemistry
A s part of a lecture prepared for the 1967 Chemistry conference on Advanced Placement at San Diego, Calif., a questionnaire was sent to approximately forty of the better known, research-oriented universities and technical schools to find out how these schools handle advanced placement. As a result, the program's value and also its weaknesses are more apparent. In view of the confusion which currently exists as to what constitutes an advanced placement equivalent of a freshman chemistry course, these findings and opinions may benefit others involved with chemistry advanced placement. Universities clearly are not unanimous in their method of dealing with advanced placement. As one respondent indicated, "It is our conviction that each college or university needs to experiment and then evaluate the impact of the experiment to ascertain the way it can best handle A.P. students." The people involved with the A.P. program, both in high schools and a t the college level, should be aware that considerable differences exist. The greatly changing nature of the freshman chemistry courses a t the major universities
further complicates the problem of teaching a college chemistry course in the high school. Table 1 summarizes the data received from the questionnaire which is related to A.P. examination scores and the resulting credit obtained (or placement which for our purposes has been assumed to mean credit) a t the major universities and technical schools. Table 2 summarizes answers to questions related to the level of Toble 1. Advanced Placement Examinotian Scores Considered Type of School Private Public Technical Composite ficorc of 5 Year credit 9 12 6 Semester credit 1 2 ... No credit ... 1 1 Composite scow of 4 Year credit 7 10 5 Semester credit 1 4 Composite score of 3 Year credit 2 3 . .. Semester credit 1 5 1 Special examination 1 5 ...
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course work for which credit is given and the type of course entered by an X.P. student who achieves some credit. While no obvious general distinction exists between the way private and public universities treat advanced placement, a significantly different attitude prevails at the technical schools. Only one technical institution responding to the questionnaire even considers a score of 3 on the A.P. examination for placement, while at least 30% of the non-technical schools grant one semester or more credit for this score. The futuristic type of freshman course generally offered by the technical schools seems to be related to their attitude toward advanced placement. It is fair to say that advanced placement is given generally by the universities to those students who, either achieving specific scores on the A.P. examination or by passing a special examination, show that they have grasped the material presented in a good high school A.P. course. This commends the program and compliments the teachers who teach the A.P. courses. The universities which grant no A.P. credit are the same schools which offer a freshman course that is not meant to be an introductory survey of the field. The type of course by-passed by students obtaining A.P. credit was of special significance (see Table 2). Most schools offered credit for a General Chemistry course based on text material similar to the level of "Chemistry" by Sienko and Plane. None of the technical schools replying, however, teach a freshman course a t this level. This must contribute to the general lack of enthusiasm for the A.P. program a t the technical schools, an attitude typified by one respondent who says, "I assure you that any anti-A.P. sentiments I express are shared by the entire freshman staff here." The answers to the various questions raised on the questionnaire suggest that teachers at the universities believe the high school advanced placement courses are taught at a level close to the level of material presented in the book authored by Prqfessors Sienko and Plane. Significant changes appear to he taking place in college chemistry curricula today. Many universities are introducing basic principles by employing techniques such as programmed study, closed circuit television, films, computerized laboratory exercises, etc., techniques usually not available to the high school A.P. teacher. In addition, the whole purpose of an introductory chemistry course a t the college level is being re-evaluated since many educators in chemistry believe that teaching a course which "encompasses all of chemistry in two semesters" with no resulting depth of understanding is a time-consuming luxury today's student cannot afford. The college freshman chemistry course of today appears to have a dual purpose. I t must recognize the student who takes this course as a terminal course in the field; and as a consequence, it must give him a level of training consistent with the fact that this will be the student's deepest penetration into the field-much as algebra is the deepest penetration into mathematics today for most liberal arts majors. The student must have enough of a general acquaintance with the field to understand some of the terminology and yet have enongh depth so that the knowledge he has gained will continue to be useful to him in some non-chemical career. In addition to the role as a terminal course, the 230 / Journal o f Chemical Education
Table 2. Level of Courses Level of course by-passed Type of School by A.P. credit Private Public Tcchnical ... ... 1 S ~ e c i dAdvancoda 2 6 5 liniversity Chemistryh General ChemistryC 9 14 .. 'Type of courso entered by student hv- as sine reeular fresl;&n coiirse" Special advanced freshman 4 9 1 Organic 8 12 5 Phvsical 3 ... 1 ~&alyticd . .. 4 ...
