A Careeroriented Capstone Course for Chemistry Undergraduates Aline M. Harrison York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA 17405
Our school advertises itself as a "career-oriented liberal arts colleee" and, as part of its mission statement, acknowledges a n "obligation to assist students in their preparation for the pursuit of careers" as well as "to instill in each studeut a lifelong commitment to personal and intellectual growth. The recent report of J. Kovac ( I ) about "A Capstone Ex~eriencein Chemistrv" oromots me to reoort the nature of bur own "~apstone""c~urse.'In his course titled "Topics in the Development of Chemistry," Kovac presents the history and development of atomic theory, wvalent bonding, scientific research, industrial research, and a unit on chemistry and society by a historical case study method. His exoressed DurDose is to helo students to eaiu some historicai, philosophical, and culkmal perspech'ves on chemistry as a complex human endeavor, evolving over time. In keeping with the more pragmatic, career-oriented approach, I have developed a capstone course for our physical science and chemistry curricula that is intended to bridge the academic and career experiences by teaching tools of the professions using the content of previous courses (the students' undermaduate maior courses) and the current literature. 0ver;ll it can be described as one in which students learn to search and critically read as well as to speak and to write in their anticipated career area with additional exposure to surrounding fields. Our vhvsical science maior includes alternative wncentrations chemistry, phy&s, geography, earth and space sciences, mathematics, chemistry, and pre-medicine. For each assignment of a technical search, paper or speech, the student must select a topic from his or her own discipline, although it must be aooroved bv the instructor orimarilv to insure that the swpi of the Gpic is appropri& for thk assignment. This enables a student to put information from previous courses to work as a foundation for the current assienment. Given the mix of concentrations under the physical science major, students also have an opportunity to hear content from disciplines other than their own when speeches are given. The outline in the table shows that fellow classmates are reauired to auestion the speakers about the papers on whiih their speeches are based. Thus, they have an incentive to pay attention to topics in which they may not have a special interest. The questions requirement offers an opportunity for discussion of the content. It promotes both learning of unfamiliar material and critical thinking about the material being presented. ~~
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IReferences2-Tare examples of articles available for student use. 2~hisinexoensive DaDerback succinctlv describes iamona other for olannino a koer or talk. searchh the thinasl orocks$es - oractkal , . ~ ~ ~ , literat~re(ootn electron c and harnba~k).'prkpar ng a" abstraccseect ng an appropr ale.ournal lor a specl'cpml calion,usng comp-r. ersword processors ano wrlt ng a proposa for a grant. I1 manes an ideal text for this wurse. 3Th6 Journal has permitted me to make several wpies per year of references 8and 9. 4~hree essays were chosen (primarilyto help integrate mathematics with science) from a three-volume set of essays edited by Campbell and Higgins (l&ll). ~
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Because the presenter presumably has background from previous wurses that enables understanding of the material more completely than students from other disciplines who are hearing the speech, the studeut presenter is encouraged to draw on previous knowledge as well as the current paper(s) to field the questions. The mixture of disciplinary concentrations also is useful for the development of such subjects as issues and ethics in science because the ramifications of any particular issue can be developed in terms of several disciplines. For the session that treats issues and ethics, students may choose one or more articles from a set made available by the instructor. Thev are reauired t o read carefullv the sundied materials a n i obtain related information, ifbossibl; h m the library.' There is no effort to develop specificguidelines for ethics but rather the effort is to raise consciousness, making - students aware of the ethical difficulties and issues current in science. Because I have seen no reports of similar wunes, I will describe this course in some .detail as a guide for others who might like to initiate it. I will be happy to supply a n abbreviated student set of "lecture" notes and references uoon reauest. A note of caution: the aualitv of the wurse is dependit upon the skills of the instruct& because it is a practical. mentorine - tvpe -. of course that relies on the literature rather than a text-oriented wurse! Description of the Course
The format of the course is discovery-based research and discussion with a few mini-lectures by the instructor. (see table for wurse outline.) It is offered for three credits and meets once each week (3h) for a semester, thus facilitating off-campus travel. The two texts are B. E. Cain's The Basics of Technical Communicating (ACS, 1988) and L. Gilman's Writing Mathematics Well (The Mathematical Association of America. 1987). The former text was chosen because it illustrates all of the communication techniques . ~ latter text is of particular being taught in the c o ~ r s eThe aid to the people taking the mathematics concentration of the ~hvsicalscience maior. Literature articles also are used ;hen appropriate! Grades are based as follows: Short Assimments, Abstracts, and Presentations 30%: Quizzes ( 2 2 ) 20%; Research Speech (2 parts: literature; experimental design) 20%; Written Research Proposal (2 parts: literature, experimental design) 20%; Final Essay Exam (on philosophically oriented readings about how science and mathematics are conducted) lo%? The Course Teaches
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Journal familiality, abstracting, and experimental design Literature searching (hardback and electronic) Writing technical papers and proposals Technical speaking
We believe that, regardless of the type ofjob they obtain, our graduates will be required to fmd and read information, abstracting the essence of it for their own or company purposes. In addition, they will need to do oral presentations to other graduate students or to other employees as Volume 71 Number 8 August 1994
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Outline of Course Week In Class Work Technical searchina in hardcoov databases of variok degrees'df technicality
Homework Hardback topic search and write 2-4 page paper (Paper # I ) based on three articles found in tooic of choice: also Assianment #I: Journal Familiaritv: scan current issues of 50 desianated lo;rnalsano determane Ghetner tney are technlcai, sema tecnncal, or eoxatona: amso" Assagnment P2 wrde an aoslract and a sLmmary on reference reaa ng about abstracts and summaries
Lecture: planning and presentingtalks Paper#l from 1 aboveb and papers; organization, slides and abstract of paper Electronic search strategy formation and use
Set up an electronic search strategy for topic of choice; Finish Paper # I
Execute individual student electronic searches
Prepare Paper #2 and Speech # I from electronic search;
Tr p to neamy large ibrary to ootain art aes to be used for paper
Speech and paper preparat on as n 4 awve; Prepare questions tor other stuoent speakers based on papers prov~oedby stuoenr spealcers
Stddent speeches ana discussion based on questions prepared oy Iktening st~dents
Preparation of Paper W from 4 above
Remainina sneeches and discussion of cnmp&r hse for papers and speeches
Finish paoer#Zb
Lecture: Experimental design in various fieldsa
Design of an experiment based on a handout or extension of a paper read previously
Lecture: Preparation of a proposal, sources of funding
Chwse proposal question; do electronic search and set up experimental design using methods learned above
Disc~ssaonan0 choice of fund ng agency from Nlh, hSF and otner fdnomg paclcets prev o ~ s l yoota ned by insthctor
Prepare literature search portion of proposal and related speech (Speech #2)
Trip to industrial firm
As in 10; continue experimental design for 2nd proposal speech (Speech #3)
Student speeches on Proposal literature (Speech #2) -student discussion
Asin 10.11
Lecture: Transmittal of proposals, use of visuals and graphics; Discussion of ethics and issues in science based on literature read by students and experience and knowledge of faculty guests Student speeches on experimental palt of proposal (Speech #3) and discussion
Finish proposal and fill out proposal packet form
Study essays for final exam Finish student speeches: discussion of philosophicalessays assigned as basis for final exam: course evaluation 'Instructor referencesfor this include references 12and 13. b~apersare returned for rewiling as appropriate. w e l l as w r i t e papers a n d l o r p r e p a r e periodic r e p o r t s o f t h e i r w o r k Thus. r e a d i n e a n d writing in t h e i r d i s e i d i n e m u s t become f a d l i a r processes rather-than f e a r f u l events. T h i s course gives t h e m t r a i n i n g a n d experience in these s k i l l s t h a t o u r graduates have indicated serve t h e m w e l l in graduate school a n d in industry. T h i s pragmatic capstone experience is, w e believe, ap~ r o ~ r i at o t ea career-oriented l i b e r a l a r t s college and i s in keee'ping with t h e mission t o support a l i f e l o n g commitment t o personal a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l growth.
3. Chpm. & Eng. News 1985, (Jan. 1 1 ) , P 5 . 4. Thommn. L.S&ncr 199a.(Dec. 11). 11728. 5. tone;^. Science I m , (D& 111,17kl7'25. 6. M-Y, J. S&a 199%(June 5). 1411-1416 7. chom.~&En#.News 1992, IAug 11). 18. 8. Weisamann. K E. 'Proposal Wribng?Ao Imrmrtant Skill in Academic Ch~mlatni
10. Bmnowski, J."TheldesofChance'. In Campbdl,D.M.;Higgns. J. C., Eda. Molhemolic~:Mopb, Pmblems, Re8ulls. Wadeworth: New York, 1984:Vol.11, pp 128-135. H ~ I ~ OPSR, , mathematieaaa a c r w t i v e ~ ~ camp , b be^^, D. M.: niggins, J. c.. Eds. Mo!hemdxs:Peoplo, Problems, R e d & Wadsworth:New York, 1984: Vol. 11, nn 19-29
Literature Cited 1. K0vac.J. J Chem Educ 1981,68,9W-910. 2. Codes, C.Chmn. ofHi&heEduc. 1983,(Mareh 31, A25-26.
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Journal of Chemical Education
13. Huck.5. W;comier,k d ; ~ b u n dW~.b , . R e o d i g ~ t o l i s t ~ c s a n d ~ ~Harper amh, &Row:New Yolk. 1914.
