Editorial pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Learning Chemistry for an Exciting (and Uncertain) Future Catherine H. Middlecamp* Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States ABSTRACT: We and our chemistry students face an exciting and uncertain future. To meet this future, what does it require of us, especially those who teach introductory courses? One possible answer is to select more interesting topics around which to organize student learning, especially in first-year chemistry courses. Almost any topic will do; a starter set could include energy, water, public health, and food, topics that fall under the larger umbrella of sustainability and global stewardship. A second answer is to develop more robust learning goals for our students, especially those relating to the world around us. For example, we and our students need the ability to think across time and space in order to gain multiple points of view. We need to connect the dots both globally and locally, tracing the pathways of substances from cradle to grave. Although our students don’t really need superpowers, perhaps enhanced powers of the imagination could help them better connect chemistry to the world in which they live. The ultimate goal is to better prepare them for an exciting and uncertain future. KEYWORDS: Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Curriculum, Environmental Chemistry
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Finally, although a bit more whimsical, consider the ability to hear conversations in the plant and animal world.3,4 For example, when tropospheric ozone levels push into the unhealthy range, would it be helpful to “hear” from the trees whose needles were damaged? Surely the robins had something to report back in the days when DDT was widely used. And as our students study the carbon cycle, might it help them to imagine how one by one, the “voices” of billions of ancient organisms went silent as they transformed into seams of coal? OK. I know. We and our students don’t really need superpowers. Rather, we need the ability to think across time and space, in order to gain multiple points of view. We need the ability to connect the dots, tracing substances from cradle to grave. We need the ability to predict how our actions (or lack thereof) will produce outcomes locally and globally. In essence, we and our students need critical thinking skills for the challenges we face right now in our world.5−7 A recent article in Nature by Whitesides and Deutch makes the case that we chemists need to change our practices. Cognizant of the challenges that we face in our world today, the authors of this article admonish us to “get practical” and assert that:8 Chemistry should cluster its teaching and research around the exciting and uncertain future rather than the ossified historical past. I concur. To accomplish this, we need alternatives to the ossified historical past, that is, to the status quo. Accordingly, I offer two approaches to teaching and learning that leave plenty of room for creativity.
ast semester, one of my teaching assistants came to class wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with “my cape and tights are in the wash”.1 Good one! Moments later, most likely in response to my chuckle, I was treated to a discourse about superheroes. Although I recognized only a few, at a deeper level I well understood how superheroes attract so many fans, including my students.2 Whether we were brought up on the Wizard of Oz or Batman, we all enjoy a good story. Although legendary superheroes may accomplish feats of great strength, they also may have powers of increased sensory perception. Consider, for example, X-ray vision. As one who has taught general chemistry for many years, I would be the first to sign up my students for this power. It easily could serve as a proxy for the type of thinking we require in our general chemistry courses. For example, students learn to peer into molecules, “seeing” the bonds as electron pairs. They also “see” the contours of orbitals, another feat of the imagination. And they “see” the attractions between molecules or the lack thereof. Is invoking a superpower all that different from asking students to imagine the submicroscopic world? Other powers of enhanced perception could serve us equally well. Consider, for example, the ability to “hear” those who came before us, perhaps still alive, part of recorded history, or simply heard by the powers of imagination. What can people tell us about the days before refrigerant gases? Who can speak to the seemingly miraculous moment when penicillin was introduced? Attempting to “hear” voices from the future could be equally informative, perhaps as an inspiration or perhaps a warning. For example, are those in future generations grateful that we did not (or did) build a pipeline? Are they angry that we stalled instead of responding to the rising greenhouse gas concentrations? © 2013 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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CHEMICAL TOPICS THAT ENGAGE
My first approach won’t surprise anybody: namely, to pick more interesting topics around which to organize student learning, especially in general chemistry courses. Almost any topic will do, given the central role chemistry plays in virtually every issue we face on our planet. A starter set could include energy, water, public health, and food, topics that fall under the larger umbrella of sustainability and global stewardship. For over two decades, such topics long have served as the organizing principle for our nonscience majors.9,10 Our science majors have yet to reap the benefit. There is good reason to single out general chemistry courses. First, students enroll in large numbers. Second, science courses have been criticized more generally for “dull lecturing”11 and in the eyes of students, “poor teaching”.12 Third, being the last chemistry course that many students will ever take, this course could inspire students on a path of life-long learning. The ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT) has left room for creativity in its undergraduate guidelines13 and seems to have its eye on the future as well:14 [T]he importance of chemistry in the studies involving energy, environment, health, and material development (among other areas) has increased and continues to grow. Earlier this year, CPT issued a white paper of proposed changes to the ACS Guidelines. The Committee encouraged departments to “integrate modern topics in chemistry into both the foundation and in-depth experiences,” especially areas that “fall outside of, or integrate, the traditional subdisciplines.” The area of green or sustainable chemistry was cited as an example.15 Again, pick more interesting topics! No one topicenergy, health, food, watermust be included. Required topics function like a set of blinders that keeps our vision restricted (and our students mired in content). Rather, first focus on the exciting and uncertain future we face. Then select topics to securely connect chemistry to this future.
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Figure 1. Plume of condensed water vapor from the Charter Street Heating and Cooling Plant, University of WisconsinMadison.
To render the invisible visible, I’ve started invoking a superpower to help students “see” colorless gases by representing their plumes with colored clouds, such as those shown in Figure 2. Any color will do, as long as it is used
LEARNING GOALS THAT INTRIGUE
My second approach is to develop new learning goals that relate to the real world in intriguing ways. Just as we do when describing the submicroscopic world, we should enhance the imagination of our students to “see” chemistry in the world around them. Although there is no need to frame these goals as superpowers, this approach might inspire some creative thinking in faculty and students alike. For example, the same X-ray vision that was so useful for imagining atoms and molecules could work equally well in daily life. Consider the act of turning on a light switch. Can students be encouraged to “see” miles away to the coal-fired power plant that produced not only the electricity but also air pollutants such as nitrogen monoxide and particulate matter? Or in the case of a nuclear power plant, can they “see” inside the reactor core to the fission products? Similarly, help students to better “see” what happens to water before it reaches our tap and after it goes down the drain. How about “seeing” how waste in a faraway landfill is generating methane? X-ray vision is beginning to sound mighty handy. As another example, consider combustion. When a hydrocarbon burns, the chemical equation typically shows carbon dioxide and water as products. Although students can observe the flame, they can see the vapor only once it condenses, as shown in Figure 1. However, students cannot observe the carbon dioxide at all!
Figure 2. Invisible releases of CO2 marked with purple “clouds”.
consistently and with sufficient explanation, analogous to our practice of depicting carbon atoms as black, chlorine atoms as green, and the contours of orbitals red or blue. Rendering CO2 visible also can lead to class discussions on how public opinion on issues might be different were citizens able to see CO2 in vehicle exhaust (as well as when they exhale). In addition, the use of a color provides an opportunity to explain why carbon dioxide is, in fact, colorless. A final real-world example relates to the hidden energy infrastructures that underlie many places, including our campuses. On mine, underground tunnels that originate in campus heating and cooling plants provide steam and chilled water to buildings. For folks in chilly climates, a few inches of snow may quickly reveal the tunnel routes because the waste heat melts the snow. Alternatively, look for the markings painted on the sidewalk (Figure 3). Whatever it takes increased observational skills, superpowers, or perhaps even visiting a local heating and cooling plantwe can increase the ability of students to “see” which fuels are used, at what rate, 396
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his abilities to speak with animals to better understand nature and the history of the world.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Dolittle (accessed Mar 2013). (4) In an April Fools joke that went viral, the Google Translate for Animals app was introduced. http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/ landing/translateforanimals/ (accessed Mar 2013). (5) Pellegrino, J. W., Hilton, M. L, Eds. Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2012. http://www.nap. edu/openbook.php?record_id=13398 (accessed Mar 2013). (6) Koenig, J. A. Assessing 21st Century Skills: Summary of a Workshop; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2011. http://www. nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13215 (accessed Mar 2013). (7) Hilton, M. Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and 21st Century Skills: A Workshop Summary; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2010. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id= 12771 (accessed Mar 2013). (8) Whitesides, G. M.; Deutch, J. Let’s Get Practical. Nature 2011, Jan 6; 469 (7328): 21−22; DOI: 10.1038/469021a. (9) Middlecamp, C. H.; Keller, S. W.; Anderson, K. L.; Bentley, A. K.; Cann, M. C.; Ellis, J. P. Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society, 7th ed.; McGraw-Hill: New York, 2012. (10) Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society, American Chemical Society, http://www.acs.org/chemistryincontext (accessed Mar 2013). (11) Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (NSF 96-139); National Science Foundation: Washington, DC, 1996. Chapter 1, http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_ key=nsf96139 (accessed Mar 2013). (12) Seymour, E.; Hewitt, N. M. Talking about Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences; Westview Press: Boulder, CO, 1997; p 145. (13) ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, Committee on Professional Training, American Chemical Society. http://portal.acs. org/portal/PublicWebSite/about/governance/committees/training/ acsapproved/degreeprogram/WPCP_008491 (accessed Mar 2013). (14) ACS Guidelines Revision, Committee on Professional Training Web page. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true &_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1540&content_id= CNBP_031573&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid= 5fe464c4-6dfe-4854-951b-fb5aa1ef0f48 (accessed Mar 2013). (15) White Paper: Proposed Changes to the ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, Committee on Professional Training Web page, American Chemical Society, January 2013. http://www.acs.org/cpt (accessed Mar 2013). (16) This line appears in Spider-Man stories and is attributable to several, including Spider-Man’s uncle, Benjamin Parker. http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Ben#.22With_great_power_comes_great_ responsibility.22 (accessed Mar 2013). (17) Middlecamp, C., Jorgensen, A., Eds. Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum, ACS Symposium Series 1087; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2011. (18) Garcia-Martinez, J., Serrano-Torregrosa, E., Eds. The Chemical Element: Chemistry’s Contribution to Our Global Future; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2011. (19) Fisher, M. F. Chemistry and the Challenge of Sustainability. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (2), 179−180. (20) Zoller, U. Science Education for Global Sustainability: What Is Necessary for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Strategies? J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (3), 297−300. (21) Middlecamp, C. To Roosevelt Island (and Back). J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88 (2), 123−124.
Figure 3. Although no superpower is needed to see markings on the sidewalk, students might still need help noticing what they are missing.
the waste products generated, and the opportunities for conservation. With the ability to “see” comes responsibility. Although I have cast superpowers as the elements of a good story, these powers offer more than simply entertainment. The appeal of the superhero narrative lies in the struggle of the superhero to use power to help rather than to harm: “With great power comes great responsibility.”16 This struggle belongs to us as well. If there were ever a time that begged us to act on our convictions to serve others, including those in future generations, it is now. As chemists, we surely face an exciting and uncertain future. Can we act to meet it? For practical suggestions to help you find real-world topics appropriate to your own needs, consult a recent ACS monograph on sustainability in the chemistry classroom.17 Another possibility is the volume published in the International Year of Chemistry that examined chemistry’s contribution to our global future.18 Previous issues of the Journal also contain information that may inspire (or provoke) you to action.19−21 Whatever it takes to better connect chemistry, our students, and our planet, I propose that we get on with it. If your tights and cape are in the wash, now would be a great time to get them out.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. Catherine H. Middlecamp has a joint appointment in Environmental Studies and in the Integrated Liberal Studies Program, and is an affiliate of the Chemistry Department at the University of WisconsinMadison. She is the editor-in-chief of the 7th and 8th editions of Chemistry in Context, a project of the American Chemical Society.
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REFERENCES
(1) Travis Blomberg is a Master’s degree candidate in the Environment and Resources Program, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of WisconsinMadison. (2) In a poll of my students in spring 2013, over 90% of the class knew the stories of superheroes, with 10% checking “My tights and cape are in the wash. I’m a fan!” (3) In the children’s book series that began with The Story of Dr. Dolittle, the central character uses his powers to converse with the animals. Wikipedia reports that “He later becomes a naturalist, using 397
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