INDUSTRY HELPS CHEMISTRY TEACHING: THE PROGRAM OF THE MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS' ASSOCIATION, INC.
ANOTHER chapter is being written in the expanding movement of cooperation between industry and chemistry teaching. This chapter deals with the projects of the Manufacturing Chemists' . ~ssociation. The M.C.A. is a trade organization, founded in 1872. I t s 170 member companies represent more than 90% of the productive capacity of chemical manufacturing in the United States. These eompaniep compete for markets and in other ways, but they have joined in the M.C.A. to accomplish certain mutual objectives. One of these aims is to aid education in science, especially ohemioal education. Toward that end members of M.C.A. voluntarily contribute $200,WO per year in addition to their regular dues. ~
COLLEGE TEACHING AWARDS
The College Chemistry Teacher Awards Program of M.C.A. The awards is already known to many readers of m r s JOURNAL.' were first given in June, 1957. The purpose of the program is to honor teachers in the field of chemistry who are outstanding in their work with undergraduates, and to call public attention to the importance of good teaching in the field of chemistry. The success of the first year's program has encouraged the Association to continue the awards for another year. EXPERIMENTS FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL LABORATORY
The M.C.A. program in high sschool chemistry started officially in December, 1956. A conference was called to review high school chemistry. The members of the conference consisted of Keith Johnson, Washington, D. C. Schools; Morris Meister, Bronx High School of Science, New York; Elwood Winters, N e u ~York University; the writer; and representatives of M.C.A. The group faced the questions: Where does high school chemistry need strengthening? What are the veak points of high school chemistry toward which a program from without the schools could be directed? A review was made of existing programs. Two weak spots pointed out were: present-day practices in the use of lahoratory time, and the need for motion pictures that teach chemistry. Laboratory experiments have degenerated in some cases to mere exercises. Many lahoratory manuals in high-school ohemib try ask the student to report his "discoveries" by supplying a word, a numerioal value, or a phrase to complete a prefabricated sentence. Worst of all, the student does not, in most caaea, need to perform the experiment to complete the report. The blanks can be filled in from information readily obtained from the t e x e book. Such laboratory work e m hardly he called stimulating to the student. The proposal to make high school chemistry laboratory work challenging was made by Dr. Meister. He pointed out that Richard Siegel of the Bronx High School of Science had already made significan%progress in t h a t direction. Such experiments as those already developed by Mr. Siegel can be called "openended." The student cannot predict his results before he staxts the experiment. Indeed the results of an open-ended experiment may lead to as many stimulating questions as satisfying answers. If so, it achieves its purpose. The proposal was developed that M.C.A. should extend the idea of the open-ended experiment and have a series of approxiSee J. CHEM.EDUC.,34, 306 (1957). The report High-school Chemistry on M o t i n Picture-9 and
Eye Strect, N. W., Washington 6, D:C.
VOLUME 35, NO. 3, MARCH, 1958
mately 30 such scientific laboratory experiments written, reviewed by industrial chemists, and pilot tested. The directions could then be reviewed, printed, and distributed, without cost, to the extent of 30 copies to each school. In addition, each experiment should he accompanied by a Teacher Information Sheet which would give information useful to an inexperienced teacher and show the results of typical student work. These features of the proposal were laid before a committee of teachers for review. The reviewing committee consisted of: Bernard Auerhach, Harrison High School, Hazi-ison, New Yark; Rev. Lucien R. Donnelly, St. Benedict's Prep School, Newark, New Jersey; Louis H. Dunlap, Shaw Avenue High School, MeKeesport, Pennsylvania; Walter Hauswald, Sycamore High School, Sycamore, Illinois; Norman Lsfayette, Hamden High School, Hamden, Connecticut; Evelyn Murdoek, Stonington High School, Stonington, Connecticut; MarcoH. Seheer, Nashua. High School, Nashus, New Hampshire; Richard Siegel, Bronx High School of Science, New York, New York; Melvin L. Thompson, Ocean City High School, Ocean City, New Jersey. The committee unanimously approved the proposal. The idea appealed to all of them so forcefully that all the committee members thought they would like to write one of the open-ended experiments. Eight experiments are now in print. They are available for distribution. As this report is being written (fall, 1957), another set of eight is ready for pilot testing, and still other experiments are in various staees of t h nrensration. ~
MOTION PICTURES
The second part of the program consists of the production of motion pictures that are designed to teach chemistry. Previous to the M.C.A. projects, a survey was made of the films and filmstrips used in high school chemistry teaching. The study was supported by the Committee for the Advancement of Education of the Ford Foundation. The report of this study has been puhlished.~ With certain exceptions, very little of the film material now used hv bieh school chemistrv teachers was desiened for the
"live" show on television are obvious. The committee of the M.C.A. has adopted in part the suggestions of the report. Two films are now in production with anticipated release date in the spring of 1958. The hope has been expressed that these films will be prototypes of the sort that can he made for a single, important p u r p o s e i n struction in chemistry, not to supplant but to supplement the work of the teacher. I n addition to the college and high school programs, the M.C.A. has published and distributed widely a booklet of experiments for general science and an accompanying booklet for the teacher. These booklets are entitled "Superstition to Supersonics." The offerings for general science are rounded out by a. vocational guidance booklet entitled "Frontiersman of the Future."' More than a mi lion copies of this item have been distributed.
