Changing Curriculum in Chemistry, 11 Roberl I. Walter
Haverford College Haverford, Pennsylvania
Freshman Motivation and Placement in Large Universities
The curriculum survey sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education has revealed a number of curricular ideas which seem worth bringing to the teaching profession in greater detail than was possible in the original report.' Some of these are presented here with the cooperationof theindividualsresponsibleforthe programs de~cribed.~Chemistry departments in large universities are faced with a severe problem in sorting out their incoming freshman students and placing them in appropriate courses for the fint year. Ideally, this process is carried out so as to assign freshmen to those classes which will not be beyond their reach, but yet will offer the inspiration and excitement of new material. At the same time, the program should provide sufficient flexibility so that mistakes in assignment can be remedied without undue cost to the student's time. Three diierent ways in which these problems have been met are described here. Iowa State University
Each entering freshman a t Iowa State University is placed in one of four chemistry courses on the basis of his high school record and score on examinations (particularly mathematics aptitude) taken during a visit to the campus during the prefreshman summer. Women who will major in home economics are placed in a separate course, with from 50 to 300 students. (They may elect a higher level course than this, if they are qualified). Other students who have had no chem-
WALTER,R. I., J. CHEM.EDUC.,42, 524 (1965). Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa: Professors Charles A. Goet,z and W. Bernard King. Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas: Professor Adrian A. Drtsne. California. State College at Long Beach, Long Beach, California: Professor Darwin L. Mayfield. I
EDITOR'S NOTE: This paper is one of a series which fallow from the study made by the Committee on Currieulurn of the Division of Chemical Education. The statistical summaries and conclusions were presented by Dr. Walter at the Atlantic City Meeting of the ACS in September, 1965 and appeared 42, 524 (1965). Other papers in that in THIS JOURNAL, symposium were published in the March, 1966 issue of THIS JOURNAL, 43, 112ff.(1966). We call rmders' attention to the editorial comments presented there and to the invitation to describe other ourricular experiments in these peges.
istry are placed in a second course, which ranges in size from 200 to 350 students, while those with prior training in chemistry but with low grade records are placed in a third course (900 to 1100 students). These three courses all undertake the study of chemistry from a beginning level, but proceed a t somewhat different rates and different levels of sophistication made possible by the past training of the students assigned to them. Students who have had chemistry with a good academic record are assigned to a fourth course (750 to 800 students). Most of the prospective chemistry majors are included in this course, which provides only a very rapid review of the basic principles, and consequently can cover the material of the normal three quarter course in only two quarters. Chemistry majors attend lectures with other students assigned to this group, but are placed in special recitation sections to permit more wide-ranging discussions in response to their interests. Prospective chemistry majors are required to take an additional one-hour course given throughout their freshmen year. This second course is designed to afford an introduction to the various fields of chemistry and to stimulate interest in chemistry as a profession. The aim is to keep the big picture of chemistry before them while they are taking a freshmen course which is more concerned with details. The course offers lectures by faculty members who represent each of the fields of chemistry, discussions of instruments and instrumental methods used in the science, discussions of graduate education and professional openings in the field, and carefully selected films about chemistry. A special feature of the course is a required term paper, three to four pages long, in which each student describes the research of one professor in the chemistry department. Each student must obtain his iuformation on his subject by a personal interview and additional discussion with graduate students who work for the faculty member. One textbook is used for all of the courses in general chemistry. This tends t,o keep the course contents more or less uniform, and facilitates transfer of students between sections if this should prove desirable. Kansas State University
All entering students who have passed a year course in high school chemistry (about 1100) are placed in one course (which is divided into lecture sections of about 250) at the beginning of their freshmen year. The first three weeks of this course are devoted t o an intensive review of chemical principles: chemical arithmetic, Volume 43, Number 9, September 1966
/
499
gas laws, atomic structure and the periodic table, nomenclature, acid-base and redox reactions, stoicbiometry, and solution properties. Two examinations are administered during the second and third weeks. On the basis of these examination grades, about 250 of the best students are given the option of accelerating their program to complete the work of a full year course in chemistry during the first semester. Scores on the review examinatious and performance in a special laboratory program determine the first semester grade for the students who take the accelerated course. This laboratory program provides greater depth and greater emphasis on individual work than that given with the regular course. The experiments are carefully graded so that less experienced students (who may be handicapped by weak experimental backgrounds) can move up to a high level of performance without accumulating a serious grade disadvantage from their early experiments. Lectures and examinations given after the first three weeks of the accelerated course cover material usually given during the second semester. Grades on these examinations are the basis for the second semester grade. Students in this program do not take the second semester laboratory; most of them get the same material in a later special course in qualitative analysis. Those students who enter the university with previous training in chemistry, but who do not perform sufficientlywell during the three week placement period, are placed in separate sections of the normal year course. Students who enter the university without high school preparation in chemistry also are placed in this course, with special sections for lectures, laboratory, and recitation. Both groups use the same text and take the same semester final examination. California State College at Long Beach
Prospective science and engineering majors who enroll
500
/
Journal of Chemical Education
in general chemistry a t Long Beach State College are divided into lecture sections which average about 150 students. Ten to fifteen percent of the students in each of these lecture sections are selected for an accompanying honors section on the basis of performance in a mathematics placement examination (one of the standard proficiency exams is used), and an evaluation of the students' backgrounds in high school chemistry. Each honors section meets at the same time as the corresponding large lecture section from which its members are selected, uses the same textbook, receives the same hourly and final examinatious, and is graded as part of the larger section. Honors students are integrated into the regular discussion and laboratory sections. This arrangement permits students to be shifted between the large lecture section and the smaller honors section on the basis of performance throughout the semester. I n practice, most shifts are made after the second hour examination, about midway through the term. The best students are thus provided with smaller lecture groups, supplementary material, encouragement to ask questions during the lecture, and an incentive to good performance. At the same time, this plan avoids removing these students from competition with those who remain in the larger lecture sections. Complete separation of the top students frequently leaves behind a class which lacks intellectual leadership or motivation. An entering student who feels that he has acquired s superior background in chemistry either through course work taken elsewhere or by independent study may also petition for waiver of the course requirement in general chemistry, or for course credit by final examination. I n the latter case, a course final examination from a previous year is used t o determine the student's prep* ration. Successful applicants are excused from the entire freshman course.
