Chemical Education Today
Meeting Report
Boston ACS Meeting, Chemical Education Program For those of us who had not been to Boston since the last ACS meeting it was surprising to see how vibrant the city was. The shops, restaurants, parks, and other attractions throughout the large inner city area made the meeting most enjoyable. Again, our banquet cruise of the harbor was blessed with excellent weather. The ship went out far enough so that we landlocked people could feel the waves. The entire program had a celebratory tone—two sessions marking the 70th birthday of Glenn Crosby, a memorial symposium celebrating the teaching innovations of Hubert Alyea, and the 75th anniversary of the Journal of Chemical Education (p 1360). Content issues in upper division chemistry courses as well as general chemistry took up a large portion of the program. Some of the symposia are discussed below.
Tom Wildeman
by Tom Wildeman, Frank Torre, and Julianne Smist
Paul H. L. Walter (left) presents the ACS Northeast Regional High School Teacher Award to Richard A. Brown.
Symposia Focusing on Upper Division Chemistry
Tom Wildeman
Michael Henchman and Colin Steel from Brandeis University conducted a session devoted to the teaching use of a portable, inexpensive, and rugged mass spectrometer that their group has developed. Laboratory experiments in general chemistry, physical chemistry, and instrumental analysis were presented. For those unable to attend the meeting, this work has been published on pp 1042–1054 of the August 1998 issue of J. Chem. Educ. Of particular interest is the article about how a quadrupole focuses ions. The cover of the August issue is a student artist’s rendition of an ion traveling down a quadrupole. The CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education again organized symposia: (i)Computers and Collaboration in Chemical Education and (ii)Using Symbolic Mathematics Software to Teach and Learn Chemistry. The latter continues the program to develop projects that use Mathcad, Maple, and Mathematica in chemistry courses. For those of you that follow this effort, Theresa Zielinski’s Mathcad Web site is now up and running on the Journal of Chemical Education’s JCE Internet; this feature column is located at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Columns/ McadInChem/index.html. Theresa Zielinski (Monmouth University) and Geri Richmond (University of Oregon) organized
Meeting chairs for the Boston ACS meeting, Julianne Smist (left) and Frank Torre.
jointly with the Division of Physical Chemistry the symposium Physical Chemistry: Taking the Research to the Students. A number of course and exercise examples were presented to make physical chemistry less fearsome and more rewarding. In particular, John Pojman from the University of Southern Mississippi explained how he brings his studies on non-linear chemical dynamics into the classroom. Pojman was followed by Benjamin de Graff of James Madison University, who brings his research on the absorption and emission of polarized radiation into his physical chemistry lectures. Both showed that such excursions from the normal curriculum made the course more lively without detracting from the necessary topics. General Chemistry Symposia Is general chemistry an oxymoron or a legitimate enterprise? Can a zero-based curriculum be adopted in general chemistry? Is there an irreducible chemistry core? Is chemistry for general students as important as general chemistry for the future image of chemistry and combating chemophobia? A symposium on general chemistry and chemistry for general students discussed introductory chemistry for science majors, as well as a component of general education. The speakers, including several members of the Division’s Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum, determined that the answers to all of the above questions are important in designing a general chemistry course. Answering these questions is something that educators in the 21st century will have to resolve. While on the topic of general chemistry, consider whether electrical engineering students should take a general chemistry course. This is the type of question facing chemistry and engineering educators now that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has completely revised their guidelines. The new ABET criteria, called Engineering Criteria 2000, completely eliminate specific courses. Instead, an engineering faculty has to define educa-
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 11 November 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemical Education Today
Meeting Report tional objectives that are best for their students, design courses to fit those objectives, and then continuously assess the outcomes of that program. In the context of these new criteria, it is quite legitimate for engineering faculty to ask whether their students should take chemistry. This question and others confronting the role of chemistry in engineering education were dealt with in a three-session symposium. For those chemical educators who have begun the curriculum negotiating process with their engineering colleagues, the required learning objectives may not include things such as extensive equilibrium calculations. However, an extensive section on the chemistry of materials may be necessary. Those speakers who have gone through this objective-setting process, coming together on common themes with their engineering colleagues has been an arduous yet rewarding task. From what the speakers said, it is clear that the revolution in general
Scenes from the Sunday Evening Poster Session
Mary Virginia Orna and Adrienne Kozlowski
Shirley and Gil Haight and Jane and Glenn Crosby
Ron Perkins and Maureen Scharberg
Photos by Tom Wildeman
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chemistry may come from the design of courses for engineering students. Other Symposia A joint symposium with the Younger Chemists Committee focused on the rewards and challenges that face young faculty members. The speakers were eight faculty members who are early in their academic careers. Among the topics discussed were the viability of non-tenure track instructor positions as alternatives to the tenure track, the non-traditional career paths such as switching from industry to academics or filling a temporary faculty position prior to finding a tenure track position, and using these various positions as an advantage. Specific suggestions were given for early planning to help jump-start an academic career and for using innovative technology in the classroom without having an adverse effect on the tenure decision. One special observation that came from the talks concerned mentors. The speakers and participants observed that they do not have one mentor but several, and the value of the advice depends on the area. Some of the speakers have agreed to contribute to Harry Pence’s Web page (http://snyoneab.oneonta.edu/~pencehe), where he will have a special section devoted to the information from this symposium. The 70th birthday of Glenn Crosby was celebrated with a one-day symposium, honoring his contribution to research in the photochemistry and photophysics of metal complexes and to chemical education. Speakers included Michael Kasha (Florida State University, Glenn’s postdoctoral mentor), Jim Demas (University of Virginia, his former graduate student), John Kenney (Eastern New Mexico University, former postdoc), and Alan Crosby (Boston University, son of Jane and Glenn Crosby). The social hour and poster session on Sunday evening was an excellent affair that was well attended. While much of the success had to do with the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Journal of Chemical Education, general poster papers have become an important part of the program. If anyone has ideas for special poster symposia in this time slot, an excellent attendance seems assured. Two posters were of particular note. Roy Tasker from the University of Western Sydney Nepean in New South Wales, Australia has been studying the use of multimedia in teaching and has developed a set of animations of molecules called VisChem that he hopes will eliminate some student misconceptions. Daniel Perrine from Loyola College in Maryland has developed simplified syntheses of the anti-depressant drugs Prozac (J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 1266), Aurorix, and Zyban that are capable of being carried out in an introductory organic chemistry laboratory. If you are looking for relevant experiments, consider contacting him at
[email protected]. Tom Wildeman, is in the Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401;
[email protected]. Frank Torre and Julianne Smist are in the Department of Chemistry/Biology, Springfield College, Spring field, MA 01109-3797;
[email protected] or
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 75 No. 11 November 1998 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
