Let's Hake Chemistry
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More Competitive
provocative opinion
Perusal of an article entitled "Why Can't We Have a USA Mathemat.ica1 Olympiad?" in a recent issue of American Mathematical Monthly,' and of another article in a later issue describing the results of the 1971 Putnam contest2 prompts me to ask the question xhy we do not have similar competitive examinations in chemistry. For those unfamiliar ~ 4 t h it, the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an annual, national competitive examination in mathematics a t the advanced undergraduate level. It is supported by thc William Loacll Putnam Intercollegiate Memorial Fund left by Mrs. Putnam in memory of her husband, and it is held under the auspices of a professional society, the Mathematical Association of America. The competition is by now fairly prestigious (and rigorous!); even though he did not make a very good showing on it, the author still recalls fervidly the excitement that he felt when hc took the examination in 1963. A student who now receives even an honorable mrntion on the examination and who then goes on to begin graduate study will be cause for his professors to "sit up and take notice." As far as the author is aware, an cxamination at the same level and similar in spirit and function to the Putnam cxamination does not exist in chemistry (or in the physical sciences?) in this country. That is too bad. Competitive examinations have always been associated with mathematics (the Cambridge Tripos instantly come to mind), but the nature of mathematics should not give that subject a monopoly on such examinations. Just what would be the purpose of a national competitive examination in chemistry? I think that the main function of such an examination would be, as the phrase suggests, the promotion of competition a t a national level for the sake of competition and merit alone, and xithout any ultrrior motives. That is, the examination should KOT be employed as a yardstick to help measure success in or preparation for graduate school; this is thr purpose of the Graduate Record Examination. Rather, the examination should be for the benefit of those who enjoy the spirit of competition and who are eager to determine just how well they understand their subject (not necessarily equivalent to how much they know). This healthy attitude, which is in line with the best of Classical tradition, seems to me to be something that is gradually disappearing. We see this in our educational system vhere so much of students' activities are grade oriented; x e see this in athletics (professional and amateur) where the elements of finance and big ---
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T u n ~ ~ i N. n , D., Amm. Mafh..Month/!,, 78, 192 (1971). blcK,w, J. H., Amm. Math. Mcnthllj, 78, 763 (1971).
3 ACS Cooperative Examination, Organic Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, 1964.
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lournal o f Chemical Education
business are fast becoming the dominant factors. I believe that an examination in XI-hichstudents vould not have to xorry about a weak performance endangering their chances of admission to graduate school (or other) or otherwise causing a blight on thrir permanent record, hut could instead concentrate their energies on being coached and on mastering the material, would serve to bring out the best in them. There is no reason why an endeavor of this type, usually associated with athletics, could not be applied equally ml1 to academic fields. A national competitive examination in chemistry should be a measure of a student's depth of uudcrstanding of chemistry and of his ability to rcason his way through to the solution of an original problem. Graduate Record Examinations and standardized ACS examinations do not test for this sort of skill adequately. 1Iultiple choice questions do not permit a student to really display his comprehrnsion of the subject mabter, and it. may be axticipated that virtually all of the questions on the competitivc examination would he of the "sho\v. t h a t . . . ," "devise a r a y for . . . ," "discuss in detail. . . ," "calculate. . ." type. For example, here is a question adapted from an old ACS cooperative cxamination in organic chemistry which is typical of that type of examinatio~.~ Q. Which reaction seqnence would he hest to prepare 3-fluoraaniline from benzene? (1) fluorination, nitration, reduction (2) nitration, fluorination, reduction (:3) nitration, reduction, fluorinstion (4) fluorination, amination (5) nitration, rednct,ion, acetylation, fluorination, hydrolysis
Actually, none of the answers above is a good answer. If the question had been x-orded x i t h the substance 3-chloroanilinc as the object of interest, answer 2 (with chlorination in place of fluorination) would be acceptable. The point here is that becausc of inherent. chemical differences between fluorine and chlorine, organic fluorine compounds must often bc madc differently from the analogous chlorine compounds. This is a fundamental point-it is exactly thc sort of understanding that should he probed for in an examination. The above question then might be vorded better in the following way so that it 1%-ouldbe suitable for the type of examination that is being considered Q. Iliscuss why 3-fluomaniline woold normally not be prepared in the laboratory in the same way as 3-chloroaniline, and then provide a synthesis for both materials.
How vould a national competitive examination be administered? The Putnam mathematics examination incorporates both individual competition and team competition. I think that this is a good model to emulate. Typically, a department interested
in entering the competition might assemble a two- or three-man team for this purpose. The examination, which would be prepared by a committee selected by the American Chemical Society and probably also graded by this same committee, would be administered a t the individual schools and then sent off for evaluation. Announcement of say the six highest individual scores and the six highest team scores would then be made at some future date, perhaps either in print or a t one of, the, annual ACS functions; results for all other contestants might be released confidentially
and would be used only as the individual contestants see fit. Publishing of the six best team scores would serve to call attention to those departments that provide a strong chemical training for their students, a fact which might be an additional factor inducing students to apply there for study.
Joseph B. Dence Florida State University Tallahassee, 32306
Volume 49, Number 12, December 1972
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