DUNCAN G. FOSTER Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
T H E appearance of the report by Bassettl in these pages suggests that it may be of interest to readers to be reminded of the "honors courses" in chemistry that have been conducted by Swarthmore since 1926." The early part of Professor Bassett's paper might serve as well as an introduction to the Swarthmore Honors plan, except that the latter was not induced by inflationary enrollment, but only by concern for t,he abler student. A Swarthmore degree with honors is not a reward for high grades, but the end result of a system of teaching whose main points are: (1) to release the student from attendance a t classes during his last two years and thus to free him from the deterrent effect of his less able fellows; ( 2 ) to enable him
' B ~ s s ~ rL.r , G., THIS JOURNAL,33, 636 (1956). For more complete accounts of the program at Swmthmore R. C., "Reading for Honors and other institutions see: BROOKS, xt Swarthmore," Oxford University Press, American Branch, COLLEGE FACULTY, "An New York, 1927; THE SWARTHMORE Adventure in Education.. Swarthmore College under Frank Aydelotte," The Mllacrnillan Company, New York, 1941. Many F., "Breakot,her references are given in this work; AYDELOTTE, ing the Academic Lockstep. The Development of Honors Work in American Colleges and Universities," Harper & Bros., New York, 1944; CREI(;HTON, H. .I., THlE JOURNAL, 12, 260 (1935).
to concentrate better on his major and two or more related minor subjects, (a) by requiring him to study only two subjects a t a time, (b) by allowing him to proceed more or less a t his own pace by means of guided, but not necessarily assigned reading, and by weekly conferences in small groups of eight or less; (3) to relieve him of the necessity of taking mid-semester and semester examinations with the attendant danger of "cramming" and the invidious practice of working for grades, (no grades are given to honors students); (4) to test his knowledge of his whole field of study by a series of examinations a t the end of his senior year. These examinations are both written and oral and are set and conducted, respectively, by outside examiners, invited from other institutions. No grades are given here either, but the examiners themselves decide on the degree to be awarded, which may be "Honors," "High Honors," or "Highest Honors." There is actually no compulsion on a student to attend the weekly group meetings, or "seminars." They are offered as a means of preparation for the senior examinations, and occasionally a student has prepared himself by individual reading, has absented himself fmm many of his seminars, and has still re-
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ceived his degree, but this has been so rare as to be almost non-existent. Naturally the conduct of seminars varies with individual instructors. The ideal of guiding reading, pointed up by free discussion in weekly meetings, can he attained only in the humanities and the social sciences where discussion could reasonably end in a legitimate difference of opinion between the student and his instructor or his sources. In the sciences there is too much factual material to be mastered before a student arrives a t the point where original opinions have any value. He is unlikely to reach this point as an undergraduate, hence discussion can only proceed to a complete understanding of the facts. For this reason the science seminars are more likely to be conducted by definite reading assignments, which are talked over in the conference until a good understanding has been reached. Perhaps the most effective way to describe the operation of the honors system is to follow a chemistry major through his college career. I n his freshman and sophomore years he takes the following subjects in preparation for his major: two semester courses in general chemistry, the second of which is mostly systematic qualitative analysis, two semester courses in organic chemistry, four semester courses in college mathematics and two semester courses in physics. A premedical student will also take two semester courses in biology. In addition, a reading knowledge of German is required, which may be attained partly by highschool credits, by taking four semester courses in German, or, if his schedule will not permit this, a two-semester special reading course. The remainder of his sixteen to twenty semester courses are divided among other subjects according to this college's idea of a liberal education. In the spring of his sophomore year, our student applies for admission to the Honors Program with the major in chemistry. He does this on the advice and with the help of his faculty adviser, and submits a t the same time an outline of his proposed work. This will normally consist of four seminars in chemistry; one in analytical chemistry, one in organic chemistry and either two in physical chemistry or one in physical and one in inorganic chemistry, two seminars in mathematics and two in physics. However, some variation is allowed here, especially for students who wish to become biochemists, physicians, or the like. I t is also possible under certain conditions t o reduce the total number of seminars to seven, or even to six, the balance of the work being done in the regular courses. The acceptance of the student into honors is done by the faculty of the Division of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences, which comprises the departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics and astronomy, physics, psychology and electrical engineering. There is no set standard of attainment which automatically admits a student to honors work. Good grades are, of course, to the student's advantage, but of even more importance are the opinions of his instructors as to whether he has the intellectual qualifications to benefit by the honors method of study. By this time at least four members of the Division faculty will have had the student in class and are in a position to evaluate his abilities. It is obvious that Division meetings for VOLUME 34, NO. 6, lUNE, 1957
the purpose of selecting honors students are tedious and lengthy, but this is nevertheless an extremely effectivemethod of choosing candidates. Concurrently with a consideration of the candidate's abilities, his proposed program of study is discussed. Considerable variation from the norm described ahove is often allowed, the criterion being whether or not the program makes educational sense for that particular student, taking into account the student's professional plans. One of the most extreme cases of this sort was a girl who intended to study the history of mathematics. She was permitted to major in mathematics, with minor seminars in the classics. Often a student is accepted for honors mork subject to a recommended change in his program. Having been accepted into honors, the student enrolls in his junior year in the appropriate seminars, one each in his major subject and in a supporting subject. I n chemistry the order in which these seminars are taken is: analytical and elementary physical chemistry in the junior year, organic chemistry and advanced physical chemistry (or inorganic chemistry) in the senior year. At the end of the junior year he is required to take such of the senior examinations as he is prepared for, merely as a trial. His papers are read and evaluated by his instructors, and if he does poorly he may he asked to drop from honors, in which case his seminar instructors assign him grades, which are recorded as grades in theequivalent regular courses. In addition to this, a student who is doing poor work in one or more seminars may he required at any time to take an examination i n that subject, the result of which may bring about a change in his program or even cause him to be dropped from the honors course altogether. At the end of the student's senior year he takes a three-hour written examination in the subject of each of his seminars. As previously stated, these papers are set by outside examiners and are returned to them immediately for evaluation. A few days later the examiners visit the campus and conduct ten-to twentyminute oral examinations for each candidate. These examinations are, in the sciences at least, open to the public. At their conclusion the examiners meet and decide upon the grade of honors to be awarded each candidate. If the candidate should not pass, his papers are turned over to his instructors for grading, he may be further examined, and he may or maynot be awarded a degree in course. The seminars in chemistry, in general, consist of a weekly three-hour conference (which almost invariably lasts much longer), and one full day of lahoratory work. The seminar in quantitative analysis has varied considerably over the twenty-eight years the writer has conducted it. At present, chemistry majors who enter it have had only the freshman work in qualitative analysis so that all of their quantitative analysis must be given in the single seminar. Two instructors conduct it, hut this is only a means for equalizing the present teaching loads, and normally one would do so. I t is scheduled to take place on two successive days, which makes for a better continuity of laboratory mork; the other seminar which the students take concurrently being ideally at the other end of the meek. Weekly basic reading assignments are given 295
from a single text. In addition one or two papers on asperts of the same subject are assigned to individual students, making use of sources available in our library, some of the sources, at least, being suggested by the instructors. Copies of the papers are distributed to the students ahead of time and the papers are read and discussed in the conferences. From time to time no papers are assigned and the conference is devoted to problem work. The laboratory portion of the seminar meets under the other instructor all of one day (eight hours) and the afternoon of the next day (four hours). Another afternoon is also available but not required. The work is essentially the same as that given in the two onesemester courses, but since the honors students can do from one-quarter to one-third more work in the same time, more difficult determinations are given and a certain amount of instrumental work can be included, such as electrometric titrations, polarngraphy and spectrophotometry. Specific methods of analysis are assigned, but the students are encouraged to keep in constant touch with the literature, to compare the merits of different methods, and to try variations when they get into trouble. The instructor is in constant attendanre a t these laboratory periods and is usually kept busy the entire time with individual instruction in both practice and theory. The arrangements just described could admittedly be improved. Specifically a course in elementary quantitative analysis should precede the seminar in the sophomore year as used to be the case, allowing for more advanced work and more instrumental methods in the seminar. The tremendous increase in the
volume of material in all branches of chemistry mentioned by Professor Bassett, coupled with an increase in the number of "liberal arts" courses now required by the College, has made this impossible. An evaluation of the results of the honors method of instruction is difficult to make. After thirty-odd years we have come to take it for granted that it is superior to the course system. Our honors graduates do well in graduate schools, but there is no way of telling whether, being superior students in the first place, they might not have done as well had they graduated in course. Some graduate schools report that our honors students are almost ready for the master's degree, and a t least one has been willing to accept them without the usual examination. The students themselves report pretty generally that they find the standard method of instruction used in most graduate schools something of a letdown after the stimulation of the honors method, and especially they miss the close relations between faculty and student which the latter entails. They also report that there is sometimes considerable repetition of material in the first year or two of graduate work. In conclusion, it ought to be said that not all of our students who are capable of doing so elect to enter the honors course. This is because a major in course has a somewhat wider choice of subjects than is possible under the honors system, with its rather high degree of specialization, and those who wish a more liberal education will sometimes prefer to stay in course. More will be likely to do so in the future, because in the past year it has become possible to obtain a "degree with distinction" in the course program.
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