FEBRUARY, 1950
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CHEMICAL EDUCATION IN LIBERAL-ARTS COLLEGES 1934-48 JOHN R. SAMPEY Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
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STUDY of chemical research in liberal-arts colleges1 has revealed that these institutions contributed less than two per cent of the research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society for the fifteenyear period, 192741. Since liberal-arts colleges make few claims to leadership in research in any of the exact sciences, but rather pride themselves on the high quality of their teaching of undergraduates, it mas thought that a survey of THIS JOURNAL, the official organ of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society, would disclose a different picture. Such a study mould also throw some light on the more general problem of the effect of a research program of an experimental nature on vital teaching a t the college level. Liberal-arts colleges from which one or more articles have been contributed to THIS JOURNAL during the fifteen-year period, 193448, are listed in Table 1. The most surprising fact about the table is the large number of colleges represented. Only 62 liberal-arts colleges published anything in the Journal of the American SAMPEY,J. R.,Jmrnal of Higher Education, 20, No. 4, 208
(1949).
Chemical Society between 1927 and 1941. In contrast, 109 such institutions made at least one contribution to during the period, 1934-48. This fact THIS JOURNAL becomes more striking when it is noted that the latter journal averaged only 14 contributions an issue during this period, while the research journal totaled more than tenfold this figure in each of its monthly issues. While the number of liberal-arts colleges contributing to chemical education is impressive, the total number of articles appearing from liberal-arts colleges is at the disappointingly low figure of 250.5 (the fraction is due to a joint publication from another type of institution). This represents only 9.7 per cent of the contributions received from universities, technical schools, industries, etc. Furthermore, 54 liberal-arts colleges had but a single article during the period while only six colleges published more than half a dozen times. These six leading contributors were Antioch College, Dakota Wesleyan University, Furman University, Grove City College, Hollins College, and the College of Wooster. These sixinstitutions account for 20.7 per cent of all the articles from the 109 colleges.
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Some interesting observations can be drawn from a leges listed in the former study acquired professional comparison of the lists of liberal-arts colleges contrihnt- schools, and hence were not included in Table 1 of the ing to both the Journal of the American Chemical So- present discussion. The 1939 edition of the College eiety and the JOURNAL OF CHEMICALEDUCATION.Blue BookZ was used to determine the liberal-arts status of institutions contributing to the J O U Tof ~the~ American Chemical Society, while the 1947 edition of TABLE I the same reference was used for the JOURNAL OF M i c l e s Published i n the Journal of Chemical Education CHEMICAL EDUc~TIO~, 1934-48 by Libed-Arts Colleges If one assumes that publication in the latter journal is No. lnalitutia Institution 5 evidence of interest in teaching problems, one might 2 conclude from the above data that an experimental re6 Mary Hardin Baylor Adelphis 2 Marvmount 1 Adrian search program in a liberal-arts college stimulates inMc~herson Agnes Scott terest in teaching. The situation is complicated, h o ~ Middlebury 2 Albrieht Milla . .. . ... ever, by the further observation that not a single insti1 4 hlonmonth Allegheny tution is found among the leaders of both groups, and 2 Moravian College (Penn.) Amherst 11 Morningside 1 only Antioch College and f i r m a n University are Antioch 1 Morris Harvey 1 among the leaders in the education group that rank even Ashland 1 Mount Mercy Atlantic Union in the first half of the research group. 1 Mnndelein 1 Bard 2 The geographical distribution of the liberal-arts col1 Muskingum Bethany 1 Xazareth (Ky.) 2 Birmingham-Southern leges contributing to the two types of journals is sur1 North Central Bowdoin prisingly different. Institutions in Massachusetts 4 Occidental 3 Carleton 1 Ohio Wesleyan 3 Carson-Newman alone accounted for one-third of the publications in the 2 College of the Pacific Centenary research journal, whereas those in all of the NewEngland 1 Perk. Chattanooga '"'* 1 states totaled only 9.5 per cent of the articles published 1 Pmme View Citadel 1 Prineipis. 1 in the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION.The South Coe 2 Queens (N. Y.) Coker came in for 12 per cent of the publications in the re5 Reed 3 Colgate 3 Richmond 2 search journal and 22.3 per cent of the educational Connecticut 3 Roanoke 1 journal. The Pacific Coast group of liberal-arts colCornell College 7 Rallins Dakota Weslevan leges totaled 3 per cent in both journals, the only sec1 St. John's 3 Davidson 1 Saint Joseph 1 Defiance tion of the country t o show such a parallel. Colleges of 3 St. J o s e ~ h Colleee for Depsuw the North Central states led the chemical education 1 groups in the total number of participating institutions 2 St. Mary's (Minn.) Dickinson 1 St. 0 1laf Earlhssn 4 (44 per cent) and in the volume of output (48.2 per 5 Colle;5:ofSt. Thomas Eureka cent). 2 Sioux Walls 1 Evansville 1 Skidmore 1 One further fact, not apparent in Table 1, mas found Franklin 1 Swarthmore 3 Franklin-Marshall in this survey. A comparison of the prewar activity of 7 Sweet Briar Furman liberal-arts colleges with that during the mar and the 1 Georgia State Woman's 1 Tarkio 1 Greenville (Ill.) congested postwar years discloses that 57.2 per cent of 1 Texss College for Women Grinnell the articles were published in the prewar years of 19348 Texss Wesleyan 1 Grove City 41; 25.1 per cent in the four war years of 194245; and 1 Trsnslyvania 1 Guilford 1 Trinity Conn ) 3 Hsmline 17.5 per cent in the three postwar years of 1946-48. 6 Trinity iTenili) Haverford The war therefore did not bring about the sharp slump 1 Union 6 Hiram 8 Upper Iowa 1 in publication from liberal-arts colleges in the field of Hollins 4 Wabash 1 Holy Cross (Mass.) chemical education that it did in the experimental re1 4 Wells Howard 2 1Vesleyan (Conn.) 4 search in these in~titutions.~ On the other hand, there Illinois 1 Western Union John Carroll 1 has not been the pickup in this field in the postwar 1 Westminster (Penn.) Kenyon period that has characterized scientific work in general 1 Westminster (Utah) 2 Knox 1 William Penn 1 . in the countrv. . . . .. ... . Lawrence 2 Williams 3 'Loyola (Md.) This later >act should come as a direct challenge to 2 Wooster 11 Manhattan teachers in liberal-arts colleges t o surpass their prewar 2 4 Yankton Maw Bddwin activity now that the pressure of enrollment of veterans Msrygrove 3 * Denotes joint article. is easing up in many of these institutions. Publication in the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION is stimulating t o the author and it encourages other colleagues to be More than half of the colleges publishing in the research more critical of their own teaching standards and projournal made contributions to the latter journal; in fessional background, fact the 32 colleges on both lists contributed 103.5 articles to the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, or a HURT,HUBEEW.,AND HARRIETHURT, '*NewYork: College 41.3 per cent of the total output. This percentage Blue Book," 1939, Val. IV. would run higher had not several of the liberal-arts colWnpublished results. p~
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