Alice J. Cunningham Agnes Scott College Decatur. Georgia 30030 Harry P. Hopkins, Jr.' Georgia State University Atlanta. Georgia 30303
Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences Results of a Survey by the ACS Subcommittee on Physical Chemistry Examinations
Durine the vast several months the Phvsical Chemistrv Suhwmmittee has heen discussing the feiail~ilit).18f construrttnr a standardized examination for Physical Chemistrv for the Life Sciences. An apparent need fo; such an examination has arisen from the increased interest a t many schools in offering a specific course in physical chemistry for students who are planning a career in various phases of the life sciences. T h e recent increase in the numher of textbooks in this area also reflects the attempts by chemical educators to provide students a thoroueh eroundine in the fundamental vrincivles of physical chemisTriwhich tcey can apply to prohl&s inthe fields of biochemistrv, - . macromolecules, and molecular biology. It should he emphasized that there is a definite dichotomy in the philosophy of the texts that are available. Some are designed to he traditional in the approach to physical chemistry, with almost all of the practical examples taken from biological systems; others are actually organized to iuclude only the topics in physical chemistry which would he most frequently encountered by the participating chemist in the life sciences. Thus. there is one avvroach of "ohvsical .. . . chenii.;try ior the life scit.nce.;" and anothrr one of "physical chemistry, with applirntims from the Me sciences." Recognizing thal there were d~f'ferentryprs 01 courses l~eing ofterrrl nnd that there was nu wntrnl smrce of mformatiun cunrerning the extent of inrltlsiun 01' such courses in the rurriculum of majw n~llegeiand universities, the Physical Chemistry Subctmimittee conduct14 H iur\,ey during the winter and spring of 197h to assess the pruvnma fur which the ~ ~ n , t x a enew d examination would hr constructed. Thts reoort presents the results of the survey and indicates the direction to he considered in constructine a new examination for Physical Chemistry for the Life ~ i i e n c e s . In the winter of 1978. a auestionnaire was mailed to 1500 schools on the ACS mailing list of colleges and universities teaching chemistry. There was about a 43% return of responses. Of the 211 (35% of the respondents) schools reporting that they do offer a specific course designed for the life sciences, about 30% were colleges and 70% universities. A number of schools indicated that all students enroll in the same nhvsical chemistm course. that is. there is not a distinct course designed for stuients preparing for the life sciences. These schools were not counted in the tabulation of results since the purpose of the survey was to ascertain the content and extent of offerines of courses designed varticularlv for life sciences students,not for the B.S. chemistry major. Departments of Biochemistry were included also in the mailing list, hut of the schools reporting an offering in physical chemistry for the life sciences, 98% of them were offered either in the chemistry department of jointly. Table 1contains a list of the topics given on the questionnaire. Each school was asked to indicate the numher of class periods devoted to each topic and to list separately any other tonics normallv covered. but not included in the list on the q;rstimnairt..'~he m o s ~frequently listed add~fionaltopics were X-rav dtffraction, radicchemical methods, conrltlrti\.ity. optical activity, and phase diagram.
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Chairman, Subcommittee on Physical Chemistry, ACS Examinations Committee.
Table 1. Summary of Relatlve Welght of lndlvldual Topics in Courses (Illustrated by schools offeringa one-semester -course) % of Average S C ~ O O ~ SNO. Covering of Classes Topicsa for Topic Range Topics Thermodynamics Gas Laws First Law of Thermodynamics Second Law of Thermodynamics
Statisti~aiInterpretation of Entropy and
Third i a w Gibbs Free Energy and Equilibrium
Soiutions. Raout'~Law. Osmotic
pressure, etc. Activity Coefficients. Debye Huckei Theory Acid-Base Equilibria (pH, pK., buffers) Titration Curves of Amino Acids Electmchembtry Nernst Equation Membrane Patentiais Fuel Ceiis Chemical Kinetics Simoie Rate Laws
Theores for Kinetics Steady State Approximation Enzyme Kinetics Photochemistry Macromolecuies Surface Phenomena Ultra centrifugation Moiec~iarWeights Viscosity Sedimenlalion Diffusion Properties QuantumChemistry Schrodinger Equation and Simple Applications VB and MO Banding Theory Cmrdinalion Theory Specfroscopv
Rotational-Vibcationai
Electronic Magnetic Resonance S o m e schools reporting number of class periods devoted to a topic did not answer in a format amenable to tabuiation: thus, none of !he topics are listed as being included by 100% a t t h e s c h w l ~though , they may be, in fact.
Kach respondent wn.; asked nlm 10 rrport the length of the cuurse, numher uf studrnts enrolled each venr, cred~thours for the course, and whether there was a laboratory included in the course work. There was also a question about the title for the course. (It was most commonly reported to be "Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences"). Tables 2 and 3 contain the summary of results concerning the length of courses, the credit hours for the course, and numher of students per year. Apparently, about 7000 students per year are enrolled in a physical chemistry course designed specifically for the life sciences. In schools where thecourse is a one-quarter or onesemester course, about 35% of the respondents indicated that there is a laboratory included. Almost 60% of the schools ofVolume 56, Number 5, May 1979 1 325
Tabie 4. Relative Weight of Major Category of Topics in Courses (percentage oftime de;oted to cateaorv)
Tabie 2. Summary of the Length and Credit Hours ol Courses in Physical Chemistrv for Life Sciences Length of Course
Approximale NO.of Students
Schools
% of Affirmative Responses
One semester Onequarter Full year Two quarters
5000 1000 800 1000
131 32 31 17
62 15 15 8
Number Of
Average Credit Hours
Range of Credit
4 sem hr 1-6 sem hr 4 qtr hr 3-5 qtr hr 7sem hr 3-15sam hr 7 qtr hr 3-8 qtr hr
Table 3. of Students Enrolled per Year in the Course(s) Reparted Enrollment 0-10 1.1-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 77-80 81-90 91-100 101-150 151-200 201-250 400
Number of Schools
Total Students Served
68 64 30 8 7 8 4 5 1 5 6 6 1 1 TOTAL
0-680 704-1280 630-900 248-320 287-350 408-480 244-280 355-400 81-90 455-500 606-900 906-1200 201-250 400 5525-8030
feting a two-quarter or full year course include a lahoratory.
326 1 Journal of ChemicalEducation
One Sem Thermodynamics Electrochemistry Chemical Kinetics Macromolecules Quantum Chemistry Spectroscopy
40 8 16 13 12 9
Length of Course One Olr Full Year 44
8
36 8
16 15 6 11
14 14 11
17
Two Otr
41 8 17 12 13 9
Perhaps the most important information for the purpose of the Examination Suhcommittee was in the responses with regard to number of class periods devoted to each topic. These resvonses enabled the Suhcommittee to determine the relative importance given to each topic in the courses, regardless of length of the course. Table 4 is a summary of the percentage of time given to each major category of topics. Table 1also shows the results in full for the schools offeringa one-semester course which is t v ~ i c aof l the results for all schools. Generally, the-results may he summarized by saying that there are many schools offering a course designed specifically for students in the life sciences. These courses vary in length, with the longer ones more frequently including a laboratory. T h e courses are, for the most part, concerned primarily with fundamental ~rinciplesof thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and kinetics. ~ t r u c & e , spectrosc&py,and solution dynamics apparently are considered minor topics, though it is interesting to note that in those cases where the courses are taught in the biochemistry department or medical schools, the emphasis given to solution dynamics, macromolecules, and spectra is increased. ~
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