Melvin S. Newman1 The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43210
II
Chemical Education for the Superior Student
One inescapable fact in chemical education today is that the amount of knowledge that prospective chemists should master is very much greater than it was three or four decades ago. However, the time allotted to get aBS, MS, or PhD degree is approximately the same now as earlier. Therefore, it is important that the teaching he made as effective as possible, especially when superior students are involved. In this article Suggestions to this end are made. For many years (hefore my retirement) I was in contact with many high school teachers of chemistry in Columbus to let them know that if they had really superior students who might he interested in a career in chemistry I could give such students summer jobs. In talking with these students, I told them that if they came they would work in a lahoratory with (usually) three persons working for their PhD degrees (or with a postdoctoral associate). They would he paid for one-half day's work hut would be expected to spend a t least five complete days a week on the job. The work to be done would consist of cleaning used apparatus and keeping the lahoratory neat. On the other hand, the other occupants of the lahoratory would he expected to explain their research problems to the student and to instruct him (or her) how to help in the research. This help took many forms: taking spectra of various types; running chromatographic purifications; preparing research intermediates; or purifying needed reagents or solvents, to name a few. In this way, high school students of 16 and 17 years of age were brought face to face with budding chemists and, by their daily contact, could get a realistic idea of what training in chemistry for a career was like. I might add that I cautioned the graduate students and postdoctoral associates not to try to influence the student to he a chemist. Rather, the summer experience was meant to show the superior high school student what chemistry a t an advanced level was like so that a more realistic decision for a career might he made. One should not get the idea that all (or most) of the students I hired over the years went on to careers in chemistry. A few students stopped after a few weeks. This is as it should be because these students found out a t an early age that chemistry was not for them. On the other hand, quite a few came to Ohio State for undergraduate work and kept up their interest in chemistry. The early contact with chemists enabled the superior students to study variws topics un their awn even before they enrolled in the university of their choice. Some worked part time fin the same supervisory personnel a t Ohio State during their senior year a t high school. 1 was always ahle to finance such students by descrihing briefly this program in applications for research grants. The item which covered this program was never deleted from my budget. Indeed, the amounts needed were never very large. In some years more students desired to hold such summer positions than I could accommodate. In such cases, other
faculty members were ahle to help out and to hire the students. The second area that I have worked on to allow students seriously interested in becoming research chemists to advance in a better way is the development of a unique honors organic laharatory course. Students who decide to take this course (given in the sophomore year) are given bench space in a special lahoratory. No one else uses their space so that students can work as much as they wish. They are told that a minimum of 15 hr per week are demanded (for no more academic credit (3 hr) than the regular course which meets for three 3-hr sessions per week). For many years now the maximum number of 26students permitted by the lahoratoryspace has been reached. The main difference in this course as compared to more conventional lahoratory courses lies in its philosophy. There are no experiments in which a set of directions is given. Rather, objectives are stated and it is up to the student to decide how to accomplish the objective. One might ask how a beginning student can make wise d e c i ~ i o n s . ~ T aid o in this resoect manv lectures are given as to various ways of carrying out experiments and of isolating products, emphasizing the different pieces of apparatus available and advantages and disadvantages of each.' The big advantage in having the student call the shuts is that the research point ofview is taught from the start. When a student asks, for examnle, what solvent should he used and how long a certain mixture should be heated and at what temperature, no specific answer is given. Rather, the student is urged to make tests (such as tlc or vpci as the reaction progresses to find out how l o n ~to heat and a t what temperature. 1 maintain that when directions are given to the student he is heing taught to he a technician-follow the directions and vou will eet an A. In research one does not know what the result will be until the experiment is done. The main uhiective in this laboratorv course is to teach the students how
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products of reaction, not merely f h ~ d e s i r c d p r o d u c Anext. cellent experiment is one in which the experimenter can account for over 90% of the products. If he knows what is produced besides the desired pnrduct he is in a hetter position to try another experiment to improve the yield of desired product if he so desires. In the honors course the student is encouraged to try another experiment to try to improve the yield. This is surely one important aspect of research. Also, students frequently check with each other and compare results. Another facet of this course is to acquaint students with a
' I'rofess~Emeritus.
' S e e descriptims i n Newman. M. S., "An Advanced Organic I.alwralory Course," MacMillan, New Y w k . 1972.
Volume 57, Number 1, January 1980 / 23
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