Edelgard Morse and Leallyn B. Clapp Brown Univers~ty Providence. RI 02912
Another Choice for the Unprepared Freshman
Recently (1-6) various solutions to the problem of what to do for the student who comes to college chemistry ill-prepared have been nrooosed . in this Journal. At Brown we have soueht a solut~onthat did n,,t invdve an extra tuitim unit (Rr(wn IS on the fuur-cuurst. ;\went! and u,hich \vould atrract o d v the students who need i e l p and not those looking for a s o f t touch. Chemistry 3, our beginning course for approximately 550 chemists, biologists, pre-medicals, and engineers, entitled, "Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure" is a prerequisite for the second semester, organic chemistry. The text has been Mahank "University Chemistry" for a number of years and delves into selected chapters, approximately half the text. It is rather fast-paced by comparison with year courses in general chemistry and does not tarry long over stoichiometry, gas laws, and weight relationshins. For tKe last two years we have offered the 40 students who scored lowest on the first hour exam (the fourth week) the opportunity of smearing out the remainder of the course through Semester I and into Semester I1 and the chance to repeat the first four weeks self-paced. Two of us have tutored these students in rroups . of 2.3, or one, starting a t the point of weakness, generally one or all of the three topics mentioned above, which for the most part are assumed to be under the student's belt from high school experience. Each student in Chemistry 3T is given the choice of continuing the regular lectures which some do, aspiring to regain their footing with a limited amount of help or assuming that the first low mark was a temnorarv aberration. The volintar; enrollment in Chem 3T, limited by pride and false hopes, has been successfully enhanced to the limit of 40 by counselling of the five lecturers (-110 students each), referral hv the dean's office, and bv uersuasion of one of us. In the second year of operatiin-we tried to catch the unprepared student earlier by giving a short test a t the first lecture session of Chem 3, mainly on algebra, logarithms, and simple stoichiometry. Not all of the "needy" students were convinced by the results of this test that they wanted help and so they waited for the first hour exam. Generally, the students succumbed to reality by the middle of October but our enrollment was enhanced again after the second hour exam. Perpetual registration, voluntary return to the regular class, and a few dropouts who could not be persuaded of the efficacy of Chem 3T keot the enrollment near 40 durine Semester I and about 25 chose to complete the course in semester 11. We divided the course content into smaller pieces for Chem 3T and gave eight 1-hr tests instead of the three given in Chem 3. Most of the tutoring (no formal lectures) consisted of help on problem sets mainly taken from other texts but including the problems assigned from Mahan in Chem 3. In general these students needed to solve manv more nroblems to rain confidence and mastery over the ciapters than the ~ h & 3 students. As Pickering (7) points out the skill these students lack in solving chemical problems is not as often arithmetical manipulation as it is converting "word problems" and definitions into algebraic expressions. (Incidentally, we found that one student with dyslexia who had alwavs had difficultv with arithmetic (interchanging digits) was rklieved by being able to use a hand calculator in Chem 3.) Each student decided
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when helshe was ready to take each test. Second tests were available if needed. Since we were interested in accomolishment rather than spccd murc or less unlimited timr wns allowtd for each swtim of thecourse. However, the boundary mndition was to finish the seme5tt.r course hv the end of the year and ah0111 ten students needed the >tick as \rt:ll its rhe carrot. Srudvnti who had not wmpletrd half the aurl: 11). the end of the first stbrnester w r e urgrd toenroll f i w only three uthiv cour;es in Strnesrrr I1 and u,rre nor nllwved I,, enn,ll in the organic course. Procrastination remains the great enemy of this free-wheeling adventure. The final examination was the same given as a make-up for absentees in Chem 3 which also rave us some calibration for the final mark. What was the r&ult? Last year seventeen students regained their own footing and finished in Chem 3 with the following results: 2 A's, 2 B's, 8 C's, and 5 S's (satisfactory). We claim a rescue for only four of these. Our help may only have been one of encouragement for the others. Of 25 that actively chose the Chem 3T route we had 3A's,7B's, 8C9s,and 7 chose to repeat Chem 3 or dropped out a t some point of discouragement. For this year the total numbers involved will he about the same hut the number who have persevered in the Chem 3T pathway is somewhat larger. wealso had two Chem 3T students who did not study chemistry in high school. For them it was perhaps the only~wayto go. One unfortunate circumstance peculiar to o w own situation should be mentioned. The Chem 3~ students had to complete the laboratorv portion of the course with Chem 3 in Semester I since we did not have space available to extend the laboratory into the second semester. What are the conclusions? 1) Chem 3T provides a method of amelioration for students who did not anticipate the background needed for the rather keen competition in Chem 3. 2) Chem 3T makes life slightly easier for the Chem 3 lecturers who need fewer office hours and review sessions. 3) The psychological problems of the student admitting that he needs help can be overcome by sympathetic counselling. 4) Chem 3T does not retard the pace of the regular chemistry course. It penalizes only the students who require the extra expen-
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hk-h-risk students mav not haveanv oermanent effect in iater sithas been taught to read!
6) Self-selection for enrollment of an ill-prepared student in a self-pacedcourse and self-propulsionout again is much more satisfactory t o teacher and student than campulsion, psychological warfare, or any screening test of ability (SAT verbal, SAT math, or the Toledo Test). -, .\ coup~~ativr md ~ y ~ ~ q m t hK~etw i ct m in thr 1:niveriirv is essential fur t h e 3ysrt.m dewrih~dhere. Literature Cited I l l flettinger. D.L a n d Haixht. H. L . 1 . CHEM. EDUC.54.529119771. (2) Krxnnick, I.. K., Patick, D.. and P e v w d . , s4.7:la ll97i). t:ll I'ickerin~.Md., J.CHRM.EDIJC..ll.5lZ 119561. I 0 Hunter,N. W.,J CHEM.EDUC.,53,301119761. 15) Kotnik, L. J.,J. CHEM.EDUC.,SI.165119741. 16) Nishibaykshi,S.,J. CHEM.EDUC.,S1.560 119741. I71 Pickering,M. J.. J.CHEM. EDUC.,54, 433 11977).
Volume 57, Number 1, January 1980 1 61
