In the Classroom edited by
Curricular Change Digests
Baird W. Lloyd Miami University Middletown Middletown, OH 45042
Chemical Safety and Scientific Ethics in a Sophomore Chemistry Seminar
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Anne E. Moody* and R. Griffith Freeman** Division of Science, Truman State University, 100 E. Normal St., Kirksville, MO 63501; *
[email protected]; **
[email protected] Chemical safety and scientific ethics, two topics that are important to young chemists, can be difficult to integrate into the traditional chemistry curriculum. At Truman State University they are introduced to our students in the second of our four required one-credit-hour seminar courses. Each course meets for one hour per week in the fall semester. These seminars focus on the professional development of the student chemists and provide opportunities to develop camaraderie and cohesion among the chemistry majors. Goals of the Sophomore Seminar in Chemistry A recent syllabus states that the goals of this course are: • • • •
To impress upon the students the importance of safety in their professional lives, To empower the students to take charge of their own personal safety when working with chemicals, To illustrate and emphasize the vital importance of honesty and integrity within the scientific enterprise, To explore issues of honesty and integrity through case studies that allow ethical decisions to be critically examined.
Chemical Safety This section of the sophomore seminar is designed to teach students how to recognize potential chemical hazards and to choose appropriate methods for protecting themselves. It also seeks to promote awareness of the proper use and disposal of hazardous materials, as well as the agencies responsible for overseeing these procedures. The course does not probe in depth the chemical principles behind these procedures. We introduce these general safety issues in the sophomore year, because our sophomores are beginning to obtain chemical employment both on and off campus. The course is based on a standard safety text, Working Safely with Chemicals in the Laboratory (1). The text puts an amusing spin on the topic and is well organized with end-ofthe-chapter study questions and summaries. Our students read and decipher Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs). They are reminded about common-sense responses to emergency situations and what a concerned coworker can do while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. Note that we are making our students aware of issues in chemical safety, not giving them extensive training in any type of first aid. Finally, they study the regulations that have been established to protect the environment. If you worry that the tone of Working Safely with Chemicals in the Laboratory is too lighthearted, real-life examples are easily found in the current chemical news. One particularly 1224
sobering example is the recent series of articles in C&EN relating to the mercury poisoning of a respected chemist (2). To ensure that the students read and study the materials in advance of our discussions, the end-of-the-chapter study questions are assigned as homework. These study questions and the faculty supplemental material also make useful resources for composing quizzes. A “safety bee”, using questions from the homework sets and quizzes, is a fun way to review the entire text before a comprehensive exam. The reading assigned for this section of the course is rather straightforward and fact-based. Consequently, the students usually score well on the quizzes, and rate this half of the course highly on endof-the-semester surveys. Most of them feel that they learned a great deal about safety, and have subsequently helped us correct some unsafe practices in our teaching labs. Scientific Ethics In the second half of the course, we want to clarify the ethical guidelines that the scientific community needs in order to function (3). We initially chose to explore issues of scientific ethics by reading about and discussing cases that had been in the news. Most recently, we have used case studies that put the students into hypothetical situations where their ethical decisions can be critically examined. To begin this process, students are required to read the booklet On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research (4), which discusses the areas where ethical conflicts can occur and gives a few case studies that begin to explore how to make appropriate ethical decisions. In class, we emphasize the obligation of chemists to honestly collect and report their experimental results. We explore the types of interpersonal relationships among scientists within their own labs, and with the scientists in “competing” labs and those in funding agencies. We summarize our obligations by distributing and reviewing the ACS Chemist’s Code of Conduct (5). For the remainder of the semester, we use case studies to explore ethical issues. Sources for these cases include The Ethical Chemist (6 ), our own faculty and students, and recent articles in Science (7 ). We find that our undergraduates relate most easily to situations that involve undergraduates, yet we also try to stretch their imaginations to probe situations in which they could be involved in the future. We begin discussions of most cases in groups of 4–5 students and summarize each case as a whole class. A pattern of questioning facilitates these discussions: •
Describe the principles (i.e., the ethical issues) and the constituencies (i.e., the people and institutions) involved in the case. In other words, who is affected by what type of problem?
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 9 September 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
In the Classroom •
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Offer alternative solutions to the ethical situation, exploring the ramifications, both positive and negative, of each of these solutions for each of the constituencies. Decide on the solution that you would choose; try to be honest with this answer!
The faculty teaching this course may find that leading discussions of these issues is challenging at first, since it is not a task for which most of us are trained. We feel it is important to allow the students to work out their own solutions with as little intervention as possible. During the small-group discussions, the faculty circulate around the room to get a feel for the conclusions that the groups are reaching and identify any major options that the students may not be considering. These options may be injected into a small group’s analysis or brought out during the large-group summary discussions. Faculty also attempt to keep the students honest with their responses. Our students often choose solutions that require a great deal of personal courage. We push the students to carefully consider whether they are underestimating the difficulties of their responses. To ensure that everyone is mastering this case evaluation process, we require each student to write two case evaluations in class. For the final exam, each student creates a new scientific ethical case study and evaluates it in the usual manner. Each student-authored case is evaluated on the basis of its originality and the thoroughness of the student’s analysis. An example of a student-written case study has been included as supplemental material for this column.W With some editing and the permission of the student authors, these cases may be used in subsequent years. One of the unanticipated outcomes of this writing assignment is that many students write about ethical situations they have already encountered. Many of them write about classroom or teaching lab cheating situations, which are often incredibly confessional and quite eye-opening for the faculty who read them. We believe that one beneficial outcome of this course is that our students will have thought about ethical issues in theory before they are faced with having to make difficult ethical decisions in real life. In addition, the standard pattern of questioning can give them a blueprint for exploring options for solving any real-life ethical conflict.
Acknowledgments We are grateful to K. N. Carter Jr., V. C. Dew, and D. L. Delaware, faculty who were involved in the early development of this course. Note W Supplementary material for this article (an example of a studentwritten case study) is available on JCE Online at http://jchemed.chem. wisc.edu/Journal/issues/1999/Sep/abs1224.html.
Literature Cited 1. Working Safely with Chemicals in the Laboratory; Gorman, C. E., Ed.; Genium: Schenectady, NY, 1995. Another text dealing with chemical safety is American Chemical Society, Committee on Chemical Safety. Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, 6th ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1995. 2. Long, J. Chem. Eng. News 1997, 75, 11–12. Blayney, M. B.; Winn, J. S; Nierenberg, D. W. Chem. Eng. News 1997, 75, 7. Toribara, T. Y.; Clarkson, T. W.; Nierenberg, D. W.; Chem. Eng. News 1997, 75, 6. 3. Moody, A. E. CUR Q. 1998, 18, 136. This issue of the CUR Quarterly is dedicated ethics in undergraduate science curricula. Rytting, J. H.; Schowen, R. L. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 1317– 1320. Kovac, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 926–928. Coppola, B. P.; Smith, D. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 33–34. 4. National Academy of Sciences. On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, 2nd ed.; National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 1995. 5. The Chemist’s Code of Conduct is available from the American Chemical Society, 1-800/227-5558. 6. Kovac, J. The Ethical Chemist: Case Studies in Scientific Ethics; University of Tennessee: Knoxville, TN, 1995. Note that The Ethical Chemist is being revised to include cases for a broader range of chemists: undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs. Industrial issues and group project–related issues will also be included. Another source is Bebeau, M. J.; K. D. Pimple, K. D. Moral Reasoning in Scientific Research: Cases for Teaching and Assessment; Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions, Indiana University: Bloomington, 1995. 7. Marshall, E. Science 1997, 278, 212–213. Cohen, J. Science 1997, 276, 520–523.
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