Chemical Education Today
Welcome to the International Year of Chemistry! by Nancy B. Jackson Office of the President, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC 20036, United States
[email protected] I am especially honored to serve as president of the American Chemical Society (ACS) during the International Year of Chemistry. I have stated previously in these pages (1) that chemical educators play a crucial role in ACS and that I would, as president, call on educators not only for their obvious expertise in chemical education, but to give insight on how chemical scientists should and could be communicating with the general public and to play a pivotal role in the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011). That time is now. As those involved in chemical education, we are intimately aware that chemistry is essential to the developments and innovation that we need to make in energy, sustainability, and security;all issues that are foremost in the minds of people everywhere. But it is ironic to me that despite the critical role that chemistry must play in addressing these needs, our science is so undervalued by the general public, not just here in the United States, but around the world. It is specifically this undervaluation that prompted the United Nations to put forth the idea of an International Year of Chemistry (2). The American Chemical Society is the ultimate champion of chemical education in the United States and provides an impressive amount of support, curriculum materials, policy recommendations, and leadership. The ACS Science Education Policy, 2007-2010 (3) gives an excellent summary of what chemical education needs to thrive; a more detailed discussion in Science Education Policies for Sustainable Reform (4) provides comprehensive guidelines to better science education. I remain committed to advancing ACS science education programs and policies. The goals of IYC 2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry. I hope you can find some time to carve out of your busy academic schedules to participate in this worldwide celebration of our science. Communicate Your Enthusiasm for Chemistry Communicating science to the public is something I firmly believe we must make a priority across the board. Whether student, educator, or life-long scientist, we all need to take the time to explain the importance and benefits of science to others. Maybe communicating chemistry to the public is something we should help our students think about. How about a 2-min talk geared to the level of the general public explaining what one of the lab class experiments was all about? We all know that summarizing chemistry to the general public is harder than it sounds. The recently inaugurated Chemistry Ambassadors program (5) has several suggestions about connecting our members and their messages with the people who live in their communities. It is about encouraging our members to be compelling spokespersons for their profession, whether they have a lot of time, or a little. Professional scientific organizations like the American Chemical Society (6) have tremendous resources and expertise that are dedicated to public communication. We must continue to tweak
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and refine those assets to find the best way of reaching the various publics whose understanding and support we seek. In my travels, both international and domestic, I have found that young people become interested in chemistry when you explain to them how chemistry can “change the world”: how it is necessary for reaching sustainability, how essential it is to energy, medicine, and improving the lives of all. Within the United States, I find many young students intrigued by the international opportunities of science. As we all know, the stereotype of the chemist in a lab coat stuck in a laboratory every day working on some esoteric problem still exists. We need to open the door of possibilities in chemistry for our young students to encourage them to think about chemistry as a career. I have also shared with students that I went to college to be a political science major and when I switched to chemistry my first attempt in my new field left me shaken and feeling like I was not smart enough. I even briefly abandoned the idea of being a chemistry major. But my freshmen chemistry professor and mentor, Theodore Perros, told me that any career I could have with a political science degree, I could do better with chemistry whether it was environmental issues, energy, or public health. Eventually I regained my selfconfidence and excitement about the possibilities, and earned my B.S. in chemistry. Even after I finished my master's in chemical engineering, I hesitated about the Ph.D. But somewhere along the way, I learned to believe in myself, and ultimately, that faith helped me to achieve that degree. Dr. Perros was instrumental in helping me develop confidence in my ability to do chemistry. What an influence educators have on the lives of their students! Without Dr. Perros, I am not sure where I would be today. I am sure that sharing your passion for and pursuit of chemistry will inspire your students to pursue chemistry and live their dreams. Literature Cited 1. Jackson, N. B. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 1170; DOI: 10.1021/ed086p1170. 2. ACS IYC 2011 Web Page. http://www.acs.org/iyc2011 (accessed Oct 2010). 3. ACS Science Education Policy Web Page. See the downloadable ACS position paper, Science Education Policy, 2007-2010. http:// portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel= PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=1892&use_sec=false&sec_url_var= region1&__uuid=a41e6a31-dc75-426a-8a40-5c0a3dab1120 (accessed Oct 2010). 4. Society Committee on Education (SOCED) Web Page. See the publications section for the policy document, ACS Science Education Policies for Sustainable Reform. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/ content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=1531&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid= ba92e078-9ad2-47c5-bf72-113f1cf5be1f (accessed Oct 2010). 5. ACS Chemistry Ambassadors Program Web Site. http://www.acs. org/chemistryambassadors (accessed Oct 2010). 6. ACS Home Page. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content (accessed Oct 2010).
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r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Vol. 88 No. 1 January 2011 10.1021/ed101044m Published on Web 11/19/2010
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Journal of Chemical Education
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