EDUCATION
Inorganic Chemistry Needs More Emphasis Some trends in chemical engineering and chemical education may be headed in the right direction Industrial Chemists and Chemical Engineers Cite Undergraduate Deficiencies in Inorganic Chemistry and Economics Data are based on responses of 649 Ph.D's employed by industry. Too M u c h Sufficient ChemChemical ical Chemengi- Chemengiists neers ists neers 22 1 496 66
Subjects GENERAL CHEMISTRY ORGANIC INORGANIC BIOCHEMISTRY ANALYTICAL PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY ADVANCED CHEMISTRY
—
13 7 9 76 10
—
8
Not Sufficient
Unnecessary
Chemists 53
Chemists 8
Chemical engineers 3
—
Total
Chemical engineers
Chemists
—
579
Chemical engineers 70
—
71 69 52 71 70
18 1
482 297 137 328 375
55 41 6 43 44
77 250 152 60 179
16 24 13 10 25
6 177 6
—
— —
572 560 475 470 564
—
280
20
167
30
17
7
472
57
3
1 33
PHYSICS ADVANCED PHYSICS ADVANCED MATH BEYOND CALCULUS
3 10
1 2
375 125
44 13
175 169
22 27
7 142
1 15
560 446
68 57
7
3
302
28
172
32
53
1
534
64
14
1
103
12
154
28
76
7
347
48
ENGLISH HISTORY SOCIAL SCIENCE BIOLOGY ECONOMICS THERMODYAMICS GEOLOGY LANGUAGES: GERMAN FRENCH
17 22 30
—
407 138 302
46 26 23
140 98 93
22 20 21
1 64 91
1 13 17
565 332 516
69 60 61
11 11 13
— —
7 29 49
107 202 154
13 31 16
146 70 44
32 9
3
208 225 283
—
472 508 494
52 69 68
2
—
104
11
56
8
252
35
414
54
23 17
2 2
361 192
25 14
140 88
13 11
8 17
5 4
532 314
45 31
RUSSIAN
1
—
7
1
51
1
1
2
9
1
10
—
1
4
7
— —
60
SPANISH
27
5
—
1
4
1
2
6
2
4
8
12
UNIT OPERATIONS
3
7
36
56
48
4
148
4
230
71
UNIT PROCESSES
3
10
31
44
50
9
146
6
230
69
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
4
5
18
42
30
20
197
4
249
71
MECHANICS (PHYSICS)
1
10
37
52
36
4
153
4
227
70
STRENGTH OF MATERIALS
2
11
24
47
34
6
169
7
229
71
EQUIPMENT AND PLANT
2
5
19
35
36
19
163
5
220
64
TRANSPORT PHENOMENA
1
1
11
18
43
34
166
5
221
58
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING KINETICS
1
—
18
18
58
41
157
4
234
63
FLUID MECHANICS APPLIED MATH
1
1
15
26
34
30
171
6
221
63
22
23
100
39
119
1
242
63
NOT SPECIFIED
44
C&EN
1
—
1
_ MAY
18,
1964
Dr. Walter S. Guthmann
Some of the changes being made in undergraduate chemistry and chemical engineering curriculums in the U.S. will help graduates do a better job in the chemical industry, according to the education activities committee of the Manufacturing Chemists' Association (Washington, D.C.). Current accreditation practices (of the American Chemical Society, for instance) are aimed in the right direction. The committee bases these conclusions on a survey of Ph.D. and B.S. industrial chemists and chemical engineers who received their degrees within the past 10 years. Dr. Walter S. Guthmann of Roosevelt University's (Chicago, 111.) chemistry department and director of Metal Hydrides, Inc., was chairman of the subcommittee conducting the survey. He also heads MCA's education activities committee. Other members of the survey subcommittee were Dr. Herman S. Bloch, associate director of research, Universal Oil Products; Dr. W. C. Fernelius, associate director of research, Koppers Co., Inc.; and John H. Howard, secretary of the committee on aid to higher education, Eastman Kodak Co. The MCA committee, in cooperation with the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society, did the mail survey. The hope is that it will help college and university administrators to plan their chemistry and chemical engineering curriculums. Questionnaires were sent to 800 B.S. and 2200 Ph.D. chemists and chemical engineers who got their degrees within the past 10 years. All are ACS members. Both industrial and nonindustrial people (such as teachers and government research workers) were included in the mailing. But the committee has summarized only the data from industrial chemists and chemical engineers. The ACS members surveyed were asked to give their principal type of work, the degrees attained, and the schools they attended. More signifi-
cant, they were asked to list the courses taken, particularly in undergraduate school, and to comment on whether those courses helped them in their industrial work. All were asked to comment on the value of a collegelevel orientation course on the chemical industry. The committee has summarized the responses of 149 B.S.'s in chemistry and 64 B.S.'s in chemical engineering, and 649 Ph.D's-578 in chemistry and 71 in chemical engineering. The committee believes that the data are statistically significant. Emphasis. The study confirms the need for greater emphasis on physical and inorganic chemistry, with more advanced physics and mathematics to serve as a foundation for these subjects, the committee believes. For example, 4 5 % of the Ph.D.'s in chemistry feel that more inorganic chemistry in their undergraduate program would have helped them later on. The need for more advanced physics and math beyond calculus seemed desirable to about one third of the Ph.D.'s in chemistry and about half of the Ph.D.'s in chemical engineering. About 3 5 % of respondents holding B.S. degrees in chemistry say they had insufficient training in inorganic and advanced chemistry. They also wished that they had taken more physical chemistry. The committee points out that inorganic and physical chemistry are being emphasized, partly because of the new ACS accreditation requirements. Biochemistry was considered unnecessary by more students than any other subject in chemistry. About half of the B.S. and Ph.D.'s found geology unnecessary. More than 40% of those participating in the survey wish that they had had more training in economics. These chemists and chemical engineers believe that a more thorough background in economics would be valuable in their current work. Other subjects not taken by industrial B.S. chemists in school, but which they believe would be helpful, include instrumentation, electronics, marketing, and computer programing. In addition to these courses, chemical engineers call for an earlier emphasis on research in undergraduate programs. English courses seem sufficient to most of the Ph.D.'s. But many think that more emphasis should be put on report writing and on learning how to give a clear, concise expression of facts and ideas. The Ph.D. chemists and
chemical engineers would also like more liberal arts subjects, such as logic and ethics. A frequent complaint of the people responding to the questionnaires was the lack of coordination among departments in the colleges. For instance, some students take thermodynamics in four separate courses given by four different departments.
No strong opinion was expressed for industry-oriented courses. About half of the respondents say that such courses may be helpful, provided they are well organized. Another way to help students become familiar with problems in industry would be a summer stint with a chemical company. MCA is interested in technical education because 70% of the chemists
B.S. Chemists and Chemical Engineers in Industry Call for More Inorganic and Physical Chemistry in Undergraduate Curriculums Data are based on responses of 213 B.S.'s employed by industry.
Subjects
Too M u c h Chemical Chemengiists neers
Sufficient Chemical Chemengiisis neers
N o t Sui f f i c i e n t Chemical Chemengineers ists
Unnecessary Chemical Chemengiists neers
Total Chemists
Chemical engineers
5
—
128
60
12
3
2
1
147
64
ORGANIC
5
4
103
45
40
15
—
—
148
64
INORGANIC
2
1
82
45
51
14
1
2
136
62
BIOCHEMISTRY
3
1
31
3
27
13
40
35
101
52
ANALYTICAL
9
10
106
43
31
6
1
5
147
64
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
1
1
103
42
44
21
—
—
148
64
ADVANCED CHEMISTRY
1
1
58
12
56
16
11
18
126
47
GENERAL CHEMISTRY
PHYSICS
3
—
115
54
28
10
_
_
146
64
ADVANCED PHYSICS
2
3
24
7
29
18
47
25
92
53
ADVANCED MATH
11
3
69
31
26
20
22
7
128
61
2
30
8
15
20
23
15
72
45
148
64
BEYOND CALCULUS
4
ENGLISH
6
1
104
39
36
24
2
HISTORY
10
2
79
29
23
12
25
14
137
57
SOCIAL SCIENCE
15
1
74
30
25
11
17
13
131
55
BIOLOGY
1
6
20
16
37
30
108
52
5
— —
50
ECONOMICS
47
27
65
30
9
1
126
58
THERMODYNAMICS
4
2
43
47
52
9
9
—
108
58
GEOLOGY
1
—
26
9
12
—
52
36
91
45
8 2
18
2
135
23
6 1
1
34 14 12
6 1 4
— — —
1 1 19
LANGUAGES: GERMAN
12
1
72
12
33
FRENCH
3
1
16
2
9
RUSSIAN
1
— — — —
2
— 1
10 2
.— —
— —
SPANISH ITALIAN PORTUGUESE NOT SPECIFIED
— — — —
4
— —
1
—
1
6
2
1
— —
— —
1 7
12
U N I T OPERATIONS
-
1
13
53
14
9
18
-
45
63
U N I T PROCESSES
—
3
9
42
13
14
20
—
42
59
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
—
3
45
7
15
14
22
1
44
63
47
MECHANICS (PHYSICS)
1
2
16
9
18
2
46
60
S T R E N G T H OF MATERIALS EQUIPMENT AND PLANT TRANSPORT PHENOMENA
1
6
14
50
10
4
23
2
48
62
—
1
5
29
16
25
20
3
41
58
—
1
5
12
12
35
23
5
40
53
3
5
26
16
24
18
2
39
55
1
6
37
14
16
22
4
42
58
1
9
21
23
34
17
2
49
58
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING KINETICS FLUID MECHANICS APPLIED
MATH
" —
11
MAY
18,
1964
C&EN
45
and 85% of the chemical engineers are employed in industry. "It is not our intention to criticize present teaching," Dr. Guthmann says. "Our objective is to determine whether the curriculums followed by people out of school for a number of years had insufficient or too much emphasis in specific areas from their point of view/' he adds. The MCA committee is aware that many courses cited by those surveyed have been revised. Some of the data, the committee believes, bear on chemistry as it was taught, rather than as it is being taught now. It is in the technical area, particularly, that substantial improvements have been made since the respondents graduated. The changes in chemistry curriculums, according to the committee, have been stimulated by the criteria established by the ACS Committee on Professional Training.
Some of the chemists and chemical engineers answering the MCA questionnaire believe that the chemical industry can't avoid on-the-job training of its new employees. This is a proper concern of industry and not of colleges and universities, they point out. "A thorough background in fundamentals, including the humanities, is the best education for most careers," was one of the comments. Although history, social science, and literature did not definitely contribute to his research career, another chemist feels that such courses were a necessary part of his education. Even though their training may have been designed as preparation for teaching and fundamental research and may not be used directly in daily work, some respondents feel that the courses they actually took were more useful in their careers than "bread-and-butter" courses would have been.
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