Chemistry for Everyone
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8:31 a.m. Belly Flop: Attitude Adjustment through Weekly Feature Molecules Sonya J. Franklin,* Norbert J. Pienta,** and Melissa D. Fry Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1294; *
[email protected], **
[email protected] A recent, major focus in science education has been toward real-world learning. The attempts to import the chemistry of our world have taken the form of mid-lecture breaks (1), individual case studies (2), chemistry embodied in the entertainment industry (3–7), specific molecules and processes (8–10), relevance (11, 12) and an entire text focused on societal issues (13). This Journal maintained a column called “Real World of Industrial Chemistry” from 1979 until the early 1990s.1 For a number of years, the American Chemical Society has presented a molecule of the week on its Web site (14) and the Internet has enabled proliferation of such sites.2 Textbooks have long since recognized the value of real-world chemistry and feature vignettes that highlight and explain the chemistry around us. The desire to discuss chemistry in the world around us and how it pertains to the lives of students is often challenged by the realities of the classroom, particularly large lecture sections. Students in these settings often fail to recognize the connections between the chemistry they are learning and the chemistry is present in their daily lives (15). Presumably this results in less investment in the material. To address this issue we introduced to our first-year students, on a weekly basis, a molecule or system that they encounter in their daily lives. The goals were (i) to increase student willingness to approach the course material and their interest in the discipline as a whole and (ii) to collect meaningful data representing the relationship among student demographics, students’ opinions, the impact of the new materials, and students’ viewpoints. For example, systems tied to current events or seasonal highlights engender a positive attitude. The comments from a student find their way into the title: “Molecule of the week was a nice, more relaxing way to start off a Monday morning. Kind of like diving into the pool that is chemistry, instead of doing an 8:31 a.m. belly flop.” The Audience and Content The audience was enrolled in the second course of a general chemistry sequence and comprised about 300 students each fall semester. For the three semesters reported here, about 60% of the students were health professions majors (with career goals in medicine, dentistry, nutrition, pharmacy, physical therapy, and related areas), about 20% were science majors (including biology, botany, biochemistry, chemistry, environmental sciences, psychology, and physics), and about 20% reported a variety of career interests (including business, engineering, law, education, art, writing, and those who were undecided). To the students’ reported chagrin, class convened three times a week promptly at 8:30 in the morning. On Mondays, the lecture started with one or two slides, with a “Molecule of the Week” heading. The students were told they were not responsible for these concepts on exams, but rather that it was www.JCE.DivCHED.org
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just to show them the relevance of chemistry in their lives. Each presentation had both a line-representation and a spacefilling representation of the molecule or molecules, along with pictures relevant to the topic. The instructor told “stories”, pointed out functional groups and chemical similarities, and discussed the manufacturer and FDA status if applicable. Instructor’s Selection of Molecules and Systems The molecules and systems used in three successive fall semesters are shown in Table 1.3 Several considerations were taken in choice of topic: (i) No illegal drugs or industrial chemicals were presented. The purpose of the exercise was
Table 1. A Summary of Favorite Molecules of the Week Percentage (Number) of Respondents
Molecule
Fall 2000
Fall 2001
Fall 2002
Antihistamines
6 (14)
1 (3)
Catnip
---
6 (13)
Capsaicin (spicy, hot flavor)
3 (7)
3 (6)
4 (9)
Cyanidin (natural colorant)
