AN ADMINISTRATIVE STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH CAROLINA*
The present study was pre9ared to determine the status of the teaching of chemistry in the state of South Carolina. The data were secured by a questionnaire sent to the secondary-school teachers of the state and from the State Department of Education. Detailed questions were asked of the secondary-school teachers concerning "The School," "The Class," and "The Teacher." The results of the survey were fanorable and placed the teaching of chemistry in the secondary schools of South Carolina practiGally on a par with other states where similar surveys were made. A r a ' m of the results obtained should help the neu, science teachers in South Carolina to be more readily orientated into their positions. Knowing the existing conditions in the secondary schools, the state of South Carolina can demand higher levels and advance to higher standing.
. . . . . . Introduction
The purpose of this investigation was to determine how well chemistry was being taught in secondary schools in the State of South Carolina. Simiiar studies have been made in Iowa (4), Oregon (5). Ohio (3), and Texas (2). While some of these other studies included methods of teaching chemistry, the present study determines the relative importance of chemistry in the curriculum, the facilities of the school for teaching it and the qualifications and interests of the teachers. The data were secured by a questionnaire and information from the state superintendent. A questionnairet was used in securing the data. Three main divisions were made covering the subjects of "The School," "The Class," and "The Teacher." The questions under the heading "The School" were: the number of students in the school; the number of teachers; the number of students taking chemistry; and the number of teachers in the chemistry department. Under the heading "The Class" the questions were: the number of recitations and laboratories per week and time given to each; the value of the equipment; the space given to chemistry; the attitude of the class toward the subject; and the essays entered in the A. C. S. prize essay contest. The questions under the heading "The Teacher" were: the teacher's trainmg: semester hours credit of the teacher in the
* This survey was made at the request of the South Carolina-PiedmontSection of the American Chemical Society. ** The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Dn. ROEREM~NGTON of the Food Research Division of Charleston, Sauth Carolina, for his assistance in securing the data for this study. t See questionnaire on page 560. 659
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Questionnaire on the Teaching of Chemistry in the Secondary Schools of South Carolina The chemistry teacher is urged to give as full and correct replies as possible. The information is being compiled for the purpose of a general survey. Individual replies will not be made public, and will not be preserved after the survey has been completed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . High . Schwl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S. C.
A. The School 1. Number of students enrolled in high school.. ....... 2. Number of teachers in high school.. ....... 3. Numher of students in junior class.. ..... ..(Assuming that chemistry is regularly offered in the junior year. If this is not the case, kindly change the word "junior" to read "senior" or "sophomore," as the case may be.) 4. Number taking chemistry this year.. ....... 5. Are there other teachers of chemistry besides yourself ?. ...... .If so give names:
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B. The Class 1. Number of recitations in chemistry of. ...... .minutes each per week. ........ Number of laboratory periods in chemistry of. .... .minutes each per week. .... What is the value (approximate), of laboratory equipment in chemistry?. ..... Do you have sufficient equipment to perform the required number of forty experiments?. 4. How much space (approximate), is devoted to laboratory work in chemistry?. ...... .sq. ft. 5. What is the general attitude of the class toward the subject?. ........ 6. Are any members of your class in chemistry planning to enter essays in the Did any A. C. S. prize essay contest?. If so, how many?. write essays for this contest last year?. ........ Has a state or national prize ever been won by a student from your school?. ........ 2. 3.
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C. The Teacher
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1. Of what college or university are you a graduate?. .Year... Have you done any graduate work? Specify.. ....... 2. While in college, how many semester or term hours nedit did you make in ., Physics.. ., Zoscience?. ........ Divided into Chemistry.. ology and Botany. ........ Geology.. ....... others (specify).. ....... How many semester or term hours in education?. ........ 3. What is your field of major interest?. ........ 4. What classes other than chemistry do you teach?. ........ 5. Are you a member of (a) The American Chemical Society?. ........ (b) The South Carolina Academy of Sciences?. (c) The South Carolina Teachers' Assmiation?. (d) Any other scientific society, national or state (specify).
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Date
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Signed..
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various sciences; the major field of study by the teacher; other subjects taught if any; and the teacher's membership in various scientific associations. Supplementary data were secured from the state superintendent of education giving the value of equipments in the chemistry departments and the number of students enrolled in chemistry in the various secondary schools. Discussion The questionnaires brought in a great mass of data. Under the heading "The School" the following facts were obtained. The enrolment of the high schools varied from fifty-five to nearly thirteen hundred. The number of the teachers in the high school varied from three to forty-seven. The number in the group taking chemistry varied from seven to eighty-one students. In only a few schools was there more than one instructor teaching chemistry. In many of the smaller schools the teacher taught other subjects besides chemistry. The State Department (1)of Education of South Carolma lists ninetyeight schools in which chemistry is offered. This comprises practically all of the larger four-year public high schools of the state. Among the eighty-six schools replying to the questionnaire, chemistry has a place on the nu; riculum of seventy-eight or ninety-one per cent. Chemistry was offeredin eighty-eight per cent of the eighty-five schools covered by the Texas (2) survey. In Ohio (3), chemistry was offered in three hundred Bty-four out of ten hundred fifty-six county high schools, and in all of the one hundred eighty-two city and village schools, or an average of forty-three per cent. In Iowa (4), although exact figures are not given, the opinion is expressed that of the nine hundred twenty-eight high schools in the state there is little doubt but that chemistry is taught in only about ten per cent of them. Since there are three hundred one four-year high schools in South Carolma, chemistry is taught in a t least twenty-five per cent of them. In regard to the popularity of the course, we find that of nineteen thousand thirty students enrolled in the South Carolina high schools offering the subject, one thousand seven hundred thiiy-seven or nine and fifteenhundredths of one per cent are taking chemistry. In Iowa, three thousand forty-two of a total enrolment of thirty-four thousand one hundred ninety or eight and nine-tenths of one per cent were taking chemistry. The answers to the questions under the second main heading "The Class" were equally interesting. It is clearly shown that the secondary schools are very independent and have no common procedures. The number of recitations in chemistry per week varied from three to fiver The number of laboratories per week were one or two. The length of the recitations
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and laboratory periods varied from forty-five minutes to ninety minutes. The total number of hours in all cases devoted to classroom and laboratory amounted to the minimum set by the State Department of Education. The value of laboratory equipment was reported by sixty-seven schools totaling forty-eight thousand one hundred fifty-one dollars, or an average value of seven hundred nineteen dollars. Texas (2) school authorities recommend a minimum laboratory equipment of three hundred dollars for each class of twenty students. In South Carolina we h d : twenty schools, or thirty-oneand three-tenths per cent withless than three hundred dollars; twenty-five schools, or twenty-seven and three-tenths per cent with three hundred to five hundred dollars; eight schools, or eleven and ninetenths per cent with five hundred to one thousand dollars: thirteen schools, or nineteen and four-tenths per cent with more than one thousand dollars. Eight schools report more than two thousand dollars in chemistry equipment, the highest being four thousand dollars a t Sumter. Several reported three thousand dollars. On the other hand we find Cross Hill with eighteen in the class and the equipment valued a t seventy-five dollars; Coward with twenty students and one hundred dollars of equipment; Cowpens with thirty-five students and one hundred fifty dollars of equipment; and Hebron with twenty-four students and one hundred dollars of equipment. In spite of the data given above, only six teachers reported having insufficient equipment to perform the required number of experiments. We all know that a real teacher can find ways to do things with poor apparatus, and no doubt pride in their work leads some of our teachers to report adequate equipment, even when reason should tell us that they cannot possibly carry on a suitable course with the material a t their disposal. The space devoted to the laboratory varied from only a few square feet in one room to a couple of thousand of square feet occupying two or more rooms. The space used would follow to a great degree the number of students enrolled and the equipment possessed. The space allowed and other factors involved were generally sufficient to create a satisfied attitude toward chemistry in the classes. Twenty-four schools reported that students will enter essays in the contest this year with a total number of one hundred ninety-eight students writing. Since this has been made a class exercise in several schools, not all of this number will be represented before the judges of the state of South Carolina. This is a very commendable showing. The third part of the questionnaire asked information concerning "The Teacher." The majority of the chemistry teachers in South Carolina were from South Carolina colleges. Chemistry was taught by fiftyfour men and.twenty-five women. AU of the seventy-one who reported on their training were college graduates. Thirty or forty-two per cent
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had some post-graduate work, although not always in chemistry. Six or nine per cent had the master's degree. Twenty-six or thirty-seven per cent had one year or less of chemistry training, twenty-three per cent had two years, and forty-one per cent had more than two years. Fifty-three reported twelve or more semester hours in education. The schools attended by the chemistry teachers were as follows: Presbyterian College and Winthrop tied with twelve each; Newberry College had eight; Wofford and the State University each six; the Citadel, four; Furman, Erskine, Clemson and Columhia College, three each; Lander, Piedmont, Charleston, and Randolph-Macon, two each; Mercer, Coker, Limestone, Converse, Due West, Columhia University, Alabama Polytechnic, Duke. Montana, and the University of Florida, one each. Seventy out of seventy-eight were the products of our own state. The distribution in time of the graduation of the teachers was as follows: 1911 (I), 1916(1), 1917 (2), 1919 (2), 1920 (2), 1921 (I), 1922 (2), 1923 (6), 1924 (8), 1925 (6), 1926 (9), 1927 (6), 1928 (20), 1929 (9). Nearly B t y per cent of the chemistry teachers were not more than three years out of college. The number of hours of college training in science varied from six to one hundred four; in chemistry, from none to sixty-two; in physics, from none to seventy-four; in zoology and botany, from none to twenty-four; in geology, from none to fourteen; and in education, fromnone to seventy-four. According to the rules of the State Department of Education i t is necessary for a teacher, in order to qualify for a high-school certificate, to complete a t least the junior year a t college. First-grade academic certificates are issued on degrees from recognized colleges. First-grade professional academic certificates are issued on an A.B. or B.S. degree from an accredited college of this state if accompanied by a transcript showing eighteen semester hours in education. The Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools requires that seventy-five per cent of the faculty, a t least, of an accredited high school shall have the bachelor's degree from an approved college, and that all teachers whose employment began in 1927 or later shall have had not less than twelve semester hours in education. The question arises whether this requirement in education makes i t impossible for a college graduate who has followed the chemistry course as laid down to secure a teaching position, or whether these requirements in the field of education are so high as to seriously interfere with the courses in chemistry which should have been taken. The fields of major interest of the chemistry teachers of South Carolina were: chemistry 27, science 20, biology 8, histmy 4, home economics 3, mathematics 3, physics 2, psychology 1, literature 1! education 1, Latin 1, and Bible 1.
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I t was interesting to learn of the teaching combinations in the secondary schools. Undoubtedly, the combmations did not follow the major and minor work in all cases. Necessity called for some unusual combinations, especially in the smaller high schools. There were teachers who taught physics, history, arithmetic, civics, and chemistry, etc. However, in the larger schools the combinations such as physics, chemistry, and general science were used. In the largest high schools chemistry took the entire time of the chemistry teacher. The chemistry teachers of South Carolina reported that three were members of the American Chemical Society, two were members of the South Carolina Academy of Science, and seventy-three were in the South Carolina Teachers' Association. More of the teachers should be members of the scientific societies in order that they may be professionally alert.
Conclusion The South in general appears to have a reputation throughout the country of being slow in education. Certainly the results of this survey do not indicate that, so far as the teaching of chemistry in the secondary schools is concerned, this reputation is warranted. The favorable showing of chemistry made in this survey can be considered as applying also to the other sciences. The survey given above will compare favorably with situations existing in other states. However, knowing the existing conditions, the state of South Carolina can demand higher levels and advance to higher standing. Bibliography South Carolina State Department of Education, 1929 Year Report. Texas State Department of Education, 1929 Year Report. Ohio State Department of Education, 1929 Year Report. Iowa State Department of Education, 1929 Year Report. Oregon State Department of Education, 1929 Year Report. South Carolina Department of Education. Revised Rules and Regulations for the Certification of Teachers. The Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Standards for 1929.
