ACS News
End nearing for study of chemistry education The first public report of recommendations from the ACS Task Force for the Study of Chemistry Education in the U.S. will be made at the ACS national meeting next month in St. Louis, according to Peter E. Yankwich, chairman of the task force. Presentation is scheduled at a Division of Chemical Education session on Tuesday, April 10, at 10 AM in the Capital Ballroom East of the Sheraton St. Louis Hotel. The task force, composed of chemistry educators and of government and industrial scientists, has spent more than a year in a wideranging and careful study of virtually every aspect of chemistry education. Its presentation at St. Louis will concentrate on 39 major recommendations distilled from nearly 200 developed during the year. The major emphases are on changes needed: to improve public understanding of science in general and chemistry in particular; to improve the effectiveness of chemistry education; and to increase both the financial and human resources for such betterment. Yankwich says that many of the recommendations propose new directions for efforts by the society, educational institutions, government, and industrial corporations. Some of these directions derived directly from recent surveys and analyses by other bodies, others are proposed by the task force as a result of their concentration on problems of education in and about chemistry. The wide impact of chemistry on U.S. society is reflected in the scope of the 39 recommendations. The task force responded to studies documenting the general erosion of scientific literacy of U.S. citizens by a number of specific proposals that would increase the involvement of chemistry industry professionals in educational improvement efforts at local, state, and national levels. Related recommendations are directed to faculties, educational administrators, and to government agencies, both with respect to funding and organizational matters. Public understanding of science in general and of chemistry in particu104
March 19, 1984 C&EN
Yankwich: key word is involvement lar is addressed by several recommendations, among them one that would create a national council on education in science and technology with membership drawn from numerous science, educational, and public constituencies. The council would provide a focus for leadership and possibly coordination of the wide variety of both public and private endeavors required to enhance the awareness and understanding of science on the part of the people. "The key word is involvement/' Yankwich says. "George is not going to do it. All of us must do our part if stronger programs of education in science and chemistry are to result from present national concerns; better programs will not 'just happ e n / " One of the most significant expansions of involvement proposed by the task force is that of the U.S. chemical industry. Acknowledging the long history of chemical industry support for preprofessional and professional education, the task force urges that its efforts toward public understanding of science be expanded at every educational level. Recognizing the centrality of chemistry to contemporary life, the task force calls for chemists to join with other scientists to improve the science content of elementary school
curricula. Further, it proposes that ACS, continuing similar efforts at other levels, encourage the development and marketing of chemistry education materials appropriate to the elementary school and modest in cost. Other recommendations proposed regional centers for science education to bring both local and national interests together in programs of teacher upgrading, teaching materials development, and methods improvement. Several of the task force's recommendations address problems of the quality of chemistry education in the high school, where in addition to serving general objectives, instruction provides the first serious exploration of the subject for those who will go on to more advanced education in the wide variety of technical fields. Improving the preparation of students at the precollege level is seen as a way to strengthen the foundations students gain there for the exercise of responsible citizenship as well as for science and engineering careers. Noting the relentless decline in the number of well-qualified individuals choosing careers in science education, particularly in the high schools, in preference to more satisfying and remunerative employment in industry, the task force adds its voice to many others in urging that improvement in teacher compensations and working conditions be made rapidly if the nation expects science to be taught by well-qualified persons. Although many of the task force recommendations can be implemented without massive infusions of new funds, if present efforts are redirected, some of its recommendations would require substantial amounts of money beyond what is already being allocated to education. There are some areas of national security and economic well-being in which the argument is about the level of overkill or structural redundancy it is appropriate to support. "I haven't heard anyone say that education has reached sufficiency, much less redundancy," Yankwich says. High school and college chemistry
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are emphasized by the task force as areas in which additional expenditures are warranted in the national interest. In any given year, more than 7.5 million students are in school at those levels. "Implementation of proposals to improve laboratory facilities and instruction, develop new curricular materials, and in other ways, to make chemistry education more interesting and more effective will be costly—but neglect of these objectives will be even more costly in the long r u n / ' the draft report states. Professional chemistry education is always in a state of transition because chemistry is a dynamic and changing field on which many other disciplines depend. The task force addresses the need for continuous refreshment of both program content and organizational perspectives in several proposals. One calls for a fresh look at actual career patterns in the chemical sciences and the taking of steps that would produce a better match between contemporary chemistry education and the broad spectrum of practice of the profession. The task force recommends also that ACS do a checkup of its own structures for making and implementing educational policy. Copies of the draft recommendations may be obtained in advance of the presentation in St. Louis by writing to Ken Chapman, Education Division, American Chemical Society, 1155—16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. D
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