CHEMICAL EDUCATION IN SIXTY-NINE STATE TEACHERS' COLLEGES AND NORMAL SCHOOLS E. F. WALnen, STATE BAC~ERS' COLLEGE,SANTA B ~ A R ACa~1romx.4 , The teaching of chemistry in state teachers' colleges and normal schools is now very widespread. In order to ascertain the present status of the subject, a survey was begun by a study of the catalogs of sixty-nine state teachers' colleges and normal schools, which are distinct institutions, apart from school and college departments of education connected with universities. The evidence gained in this manner was supplemented with data obtained from the "Biennial Survey of Education, " U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 23 (1926); Proceedings of the N . E. A . for the year 1927; and the reports of the Committees of the American Association of Teachers' Colleges for the years 1927 and 1928. Catalogs of state teachers' colleges and normal schools for the years 1927-28 and 192&29 were studied. These institutions are distributed among forty-three states, as shown in the accompanying table. Five states, namely, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, do not have any institutions of the classes considered in this article. Ten institntions in the list offer no courses in chemistry. Twenty-nine of the sixty-nine have the rating of Class A on the accredited list of the AmericanAssociationof Teachers' Colleges for February, 1928. Forty-three institutions comply with the standards for the "Preparation of the Faculty," as designated by the above association, as follows: "The minimum scholastic requirement for members of the faculty who give instruction in the college department shall be graduation from a college of recognized standing and additional training, which shall include a t least one year of study in their respective fields of teaching in a recognized graduate school, or equivalent, and presumably possession of the master's degree." All of the instructors in chemistry at these colleges and normals (see "Instructors and Their Degrees" in accompanying table) have at least the bachelor's degree; 54% have the master's degree; 14% have the Ph.D. Comparing this record with that in other fields, a check was made of all members of the faculties, and it was found that approximately two hundred and seventy instructors had no college degree. These members represented the following fields: art, education, home economics, industrial education, physical education, and social science. A study of the chemistry courses offered by each of the sixty-nine state teachers' colleges and normal schools reveals the following facts: twentysix institutions list in their catalogs an average of 9.4 courses in chemistry each semester; thiiy-three institntions average 12 courses each quarter; and ten offer no chemistry courses whatever. The study also shows that there is a great variety of chemistry courses. They may be ranked ac-
STATUSOF CHEMISTRYTEACHING IN SIXTY-NINE STATETEACHERS' COLLEGES AND NORMAL SCHOOLS,1927-28, 1928-29
I
Stout Inrt. (No separate) Total
Menomoni;. Wis.' Wyoming
State of
I
Class A , Ratios by the
American Ao~oci*tionof
Highest d~grce Ph.D. A.M. A.B.
0
2
1
14
53
31
Teachcm' College..
VOL. 6,
NOS.7 AND 8
CH~XICAL EDUCAT~ON
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cording to the number of times listed in all of the catalogs: first, general chemistry; second, organic chemistry; third, quantitative analysis; and fourth, qualitative analysis. Other courses which are very common include household chemistry, food chemistry, agricultural chemistry, physiological chemistry, and the teaching of chemistry. Only one institution of the sixty-nine offers a course in chemical research. I t "deals with general methods of approaching problems in chemical research;" and is given by the Western State College of Colorado. There is an unnecessary, wasteful, and confusing lack of uniformity in the prereqnisite for general chemistry. Fifty-seven institutions offer a course in general chemistry without requiring high-school chemistry as a prereqnisite; and sixteen offer an additional course in general chemistry for those having credit in elementary chemistry. Five California institutions will accept students having credit in high-school physics and trigonometry in place of the high-school chemistry prerequisite, while one Virginia teachers' college offers a general chemistry course open to thiidand fourth-year college students in addition to the elementary course for freshmen. Two institutions, one in California and one in West Virginia, offer no course in general chemistry having no prerequisites. The chief aim of the general chemistry course was found to be, "to give a foundation in the fundamental principles of the science." Other aims were, "to give the high-school science teacher a background for living and teaching," also to "give principles and applications." One teachers' college places especial "emphasis upon the scientitic method of attacking problems. Extreme rigor is demanded of the student in his definition and use of scientific terms, and his reports of observations in the laboratory, and the conclusions to be drawn from them." The work in chemistry at these institutions is organized under three different heads: lirst, chemistry department; second, science department; third, physical science (see "Organization of Work" in accompanying table). Twenty-two colleges have a separate chemistry department; while in fourteen the work is combined with physics; and in twenty-three it is part of the science department. Under the latter two systems the chemistry instructors are required to teach other subjects in addition to chemistry, in many cases. It is interesting to note that the work in chemistry is organized as a separate department in seventeen of the twenty-nine Class A teachers' colleges and normal schools listed in the table. By comparing the data for these seventeen in columns 2 and 3 of the table it is found that they average seventeen courses in chemistry each quarter, while the other twelve average eleven courses each quarter. The student enrolment has no influence upon the three systems of organization, because each type may
be found in very large institutions. There is a lack of uniformity in this matter among the colleges of the same state. Conclusions: 1. The preparation of instructors of chemistry for their work is better than that of teachers in other fields of instruction a t the sixty-nine teachers' colleges and normal schools studied in this survey. This is remarkable in view of the fact that, according to Dean W. S. Gray of the School of Education, University of Chicago, "teacher-training institutions of collegiate rank are of relatively recent origin."* 2. It is evident that in many of these teacher-training institutions, the study of chemical facts is overdone, since the essence of science is the scientific method. The scientific method involves careful experiment, accurate observation, and cautious inference. The influence of the "one and two year" curriculums upon the types of college chemistry courses is still very powerful, as shown by titles and aims. 3. The majority of the Class A teachers' colleges have a chemistry department which is separate and distinct from the other fields of science. This class offers more courses in chemistry and appears to be the leader in the preparation of science teachers. 4. Certain facts, showing deficiencies and standards, have been pointed out in this discussion. Detailed knowledge of what is needed and the spirit of professional zeal for making teaching comparable to the other professions, should tend to make chemistry teachers realize adequate standards for chemical education in teachers' colleges. * N. E. A. Proceedings, 1927.
