provocative opinion Chemistry: The Ultimate Liberal Art J a m e s P. Deavw College of Charleston, SC 29424 "Chemistry is the ultimate liberal art!' That is what my general chemistry class is told on the first day of class each fall. There is always a snicker or two. However, general chemistry is the ultimate course in the liberal arts curriculum, especially the course that is taught for allied health students which is a year-long survey of general, organic, and biological chemistry (or G-0-B course). What other course in the curriculum includes mathematics, biology, medicine, health and physical education, ecology, physics, engineering, astronomy, and geology along with history, philosophy and loeic. Enelish. - . foreien ianeuaee. " . .nnlitical science. business azministration and i&omics, theology, psycholo&, socioloev. -.. and even art? Cbemistrv is the science of matter. and matter is everything that is around us that possesses mass and occu~iessuace. If chemistrv includes the entire phvsical world a s w e know it, can it n i t come close also to-atleast covering all of the educational world?
' College of Charleston Undergraduate Bulletin 1990, 13.
What does i t mean to be liberally educated? A liberal arts education is one that is extensive, including "the study of human nature, human value systems, the natural world, methods of inquiry including analysis and syntheses, and personal and societal change and development."' Why do we consider a liberal arts education important? I t allows us to be in the best position continually t o reevaluate the current personal and social issues that daily invade our lives. In order best to carry out this ongoing inquiry, a broad or "liberal" education prepares us by providing us with at least an acquaintance of the principle areas of knowledge and helps us to master the basic intellectual skills of logical, critical thinking and of effective communication. No other course in the undergraduate curriculum can match the fulfillment of these criteria as chemistry can. It is readily apparent how the other sciences are included in a aeneral chemistrv course. Mathematics is found throughout, from simplearithmetic to algebra. Chemistry is applied mathematics at its finest. Calculus is held off until
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the studv of phvsical chemistry. Physics topics include atomic s&ucture,basic quantum kechanics, and thermodynamics. Engineeringlmaterial science topics include superconductors, oxidation-reduction prohlems in architecture, and polymers. Geology can readily be incorporated during desciintive discussions. Astrouomv is covered when discussing spectroscopy, the fourth state of matter (plasma), and fusion. Biology is covered in the biochemistry section of the course. Those discussions can include a wide variety of topics within the field of medicine includine clinical chemistrv such as trace metal determinations and enzymatic analyses, nharmaceutics. maenetic resonance imagine, and dialysis. 'Health and physiraleducation topicsare included in discussions on drugs, biomolerules, and nutrition. A host of environmental topirs can he used to illustrate chemiral principlesand problems and show the great need for chemists tu be actively involved in determining and solving ecological problems. History can readily be incorporated. The development of the atomic theory from the Greeks t o Dalton to Bohr to Schrodineer also vields an examnle of the scientific method (philoso&y and fogic) and how theories must change to fit the facts and not vice versa. The development of modern molecular biology through the contributions of Pauling, Chaeraff. .. . Wilkins and Franklin, Watson and Crick, and Nirenberg makes tor a very interesting history lesson. The rorrect use of the English languaye is very imponant to a chemist. Without the ability to communicate thoughts, proposals will not be funded, and results of work cannot be communicated to the scientifir community. Correct grammar must be demanded in the classroom and with all work. Toanvone learnine" nomenclature the IUPAC rules for inor- ganic and especially organic can seem like learning a foreign language. Instead of "un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq" i t becomes "meth, eth, prop, but, pent". Atomic symbols make up our alphabet and equations our sentence structures. The problems of acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and the ozone hole readily lend themselves t o discussions involving not only business and economics but also political science and sociology. Choices have to be made in solving these problems that will cost people money and privileges. Government will have to dictate eventually what routes will be taken. These choices cannot be wisely made unless based upon the facts, and that is why society needs not only chemists to determine those facts but an informed electorate that can correctly discern between conflicting reports from scientists. Art can be incorporated by discussing pigments. The drawine of oreanic structures, crystal lattices, bonding diagrams, a n d apparatuses helps gi"e students an appreciation for artistic skills. Even an education major can learn skills applicable t o his or her profession. The instructor that stands before the student is-a role model one way or another, positiveor negative. The enthusiasm and energy (or lack thereof) will reinforre at least subconsciously in these students' minds that scieuce is fun, interesting, and understandable or that is impossibly hard -~~~ and dull. The use of demonstrations and asking of questions in class teaches them techniques that they canise. Teachine students to learn on their own and to think for themselves is more important than simply the dissemination of facts. While teaching students various skills is important, motivating them to dotheir best and t o learn on their own is the ultimate goal. ~~
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The last day of class can be used as a pep talk, not only to motivate students to perform better on the final exam but also to ask them to reflect back on the year and all that they have heard and done. A quick walk through of the year is taken by building an atom from elementary particles, huildine a molecule from atoms.. exnlainine . " how reactions take place as molecules collide with sufficient energy and orientation. Ultimately such reactions can involve the making of phosphate ester honds that link that particular sequence of nucleotides toeether to make us who we are. Manv events happen randomly: which radioisotope happens to &dergo decav a t a given instant, which two molecules collide to react, whichsperm fertilizes an egg. However, the outcomes are not random. They can be predicted and always hold true t o form. These laws of science do not change, whereas our theories behind them do change. Whether all that happens is by chance or by design of some Creator is a questionthat we all must answer. So even theology can be entered into the chemistry course. Sometimes when returning a test the class can be reminded that in this class salvation rests upon works/riehteousness and not unon erace. The ~ a t i o n aAdvisory l ~ r o ; p ofsigma Xi, the scientific research society, identified several items that contribute to the diminishing number of students pursuing education in science, one of them being that the quality of the curriculum, especially entry-level courses, is unrewarding to beginning student^.^ If this in fact is the case, the blame can only rest on the shoulders of the faculty members teaching those courses. The nrovocative oninion offered here is that if vou reallv want td attract students into chemistry i t might de that thk G-O-B course might be the best introductory course in chemistry. Kinetics, thermodynamics, equilibria, atomic theorv. all eet short-chanced in the G-O-B course. Bv the sametokecorganic, nuclear, and biochemistry usual$ get the short shrift in the general chemistry course. The regular generalchemistry course can be just exciting. The material is most excitine, most relevant, and most necessarv. Those minds reallyho want to soak up new information. With a little enthusiasm on the part of the instructor, it can be done. Just adding a demonstration per week to a lecture can really perk things up. By not "turning on" these students to chemistrv. we do them. ourselves. and societv a a a v e disservice. are the "hot" topics tdday? ~ i o c h k m i k yand nuclear chemistrv are two topics in which students show ereat interest. substitution o f t h e G-O-B course might not be the answer, but we can certainly learn from it. The other message is to impart that chemistry is in fact the most internal course in the liberal arts curriculum. No matter whichcourse is taught, it is to be taught with the goals mentioned above. We need to entice as many students as possible into our discipline. We are here to serve these students and not vice versa. In no way is the lessening of the intellectual integrity of our discipline advocated. However, chemistry does not exist to be the crowd-control, weed-out mechanism for medical school. Failure to turn students on might be a forgivable offense. Turning them off, shunning them away is not a forgivable offense.
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J, CoNege Sci.
Teach. 1990, 19,270.
