Chemical Education Today
Handbook of the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Comprehensive Guide to Purposes, Structures, Practices, and Change Jerry G. Graff, James L. Radcliffe, and Associates. JosseyBass: San Francisco, 1997. xxxvi + 747 pp. This volume is part of the Higher and Adult Education Series of Jossey-Bass Publishers and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Its purpose is to provide an overview of the debates and reforms concerning the undergraduate curriculum. As to what is the curriculum, Clark Kerr is quoted, “…the curriculum is…the statement a college makes about what …is considered useful, appropriate, or relevant…” Thus the term curriculum refers to the educational plan of an institution or to a program or course. The major thesis of this volume is that the trend of fragmentation of the learning experience of students is currently being reversed and the needed innovation and experimentation cannot be carried out without sound assessment of student growth, development, and attainment. The book consists of six parts. Part One deals with the purposes and objectives of undergraduate education; Part Two focuses on general education; Part Three looks at specialized features of the curriculum; Part Four addresses the question of innovations; Part Five deals with institutional support; and Part Six looks ahead to the curriculum of the next century. The majority of the 57 contributing authors have a background outside the sciences and math: 20 in education, 9 in English, 6 in psychology, 5 in social sciences, 4 in history and music. German, economics, political science, and French backgrounds are also present. At the other end of the spectrum, there are 4 with a background in biology, 1 in math, and 1 in chemistry. This is not the book to rush to when a change in the curriculum needs to be introduced in chemistry education. Rather, it provides a broad-based background with history and principles, with the evolution of the curriculum, and ample references of the sources. The section on the Antecedents of American Higher Education is especially illuminating and at places amusing. It starts with Pythagoras teaching philosophy between 532 and 500 B.C.E. We also learn that in 460 it was introduced in Rome that lawyers had to pass an examination in law before they could practice in courts. When, in 1266, Roger Bacon introduced in-
novations in the curriculum, including the study of modern languages, he was jailed for twelve years for departures from tradition; a stern warning of the dangers for curricular innovators. This historic section deals almost exclusively with European experience. Yet elsewhere in the book the need is mentioned for more inclusive curriculum reflecting the multicultural nature of contemporary American society, including women’s studies, Black studies, Asian studies, and other perspectives. Properly sequencing the curriculum is especially important for math and science learning. Whereas the majority of courses in the humanities and social sciences can be visualized as having a horizontal relationship, math and the sciences build on each other. Concepts such as cross section and modularity may be helpful in teaching the sciences, and are not covered in the discussion. Rather, there is an inventory of experiences with a variety of subjects at various schools. The whole chapter (Chapter 13) devoted to the natural sciences and mathematics is slim, a mere 21 pages, including one page on innovative efforts in chemistry. From my own experience teaching introductory chemistry in four U.S. universities, some preparations in English and geometry would be very useful for more efficient learning of general chemistry. This may seem to be too provocative a suggestion, but it is the kind of general discussion of the undergraduate curriculum where such cross-disciplinary questions could be raised. Despite its terseness and shortcomings, the authors of Chapter 13, chemist Gene G. Wubbels and psychologist Joan S. Girgus, did an excellent job and their discussion culminates in quoting Michael Polanyi and his Personal Knowledge (Chicago University Press, 1958) to stress the role of the individual both in providing knowledge and in learning. Polanyi’s ideas may serve as a guiding light for those who would like to improve the curriculum of mathematics and the sciences. This Handbook is of lasting value for all involved in education, and in particular for those who in any way have a say in shaping the curriculum of undergraduate education. Istvan Hargittai University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403; and Budapest Technical University, Budapest H-1521, Hungary
Vol. 74 No. 5 May 1997 • Journal of Chemical Education
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