provocative opinion Lecture or Laboratory Choosing between Two "Goods" John J. Cawley Villanova University, Villanova. PA 19085 We often hear about choice in the wntext of the lesser of two e\ils. It is not as often that we allude to a choice between the better of two goods. It is important further to consider whether that choice is free or forced. In the former Bulletin Newspaper Building there was a laree mural on which there was a auote bv Beniamin ~r&klin.Loosely paraphrased it said 'that bekg forced to choose between havine a eovernment or havine a newsoaper he would alwayschoose having a newspaper. f i a t seems to be a reasonable exanmle of a forced choice between two goods. In many chemistry departments, lecture and laboratory experiences exist as separate courses. I t may be that historically administrators accepted this, because it made for easy scheduling. My rewllection is that the departments themselves initiated this seoaration for academic reasons. We all have encountered &dents who were excellent in lecture but a disaster in laboratory. Of course we also have enwuntered students who were artists in the laboratory but inept in lecture. Rather than averaging the grades for lecture and laboratory components of a class, offeringindependent lab and lecture classes more accurately assesses student competence in these separate activities. I t is hoped that separate grades for these separate experiences gave a more accurate reflection of the level of success by students in these separate activities. In a previous Prouocatiue Opinion, a colleague ( I ) made the case for not being forced to choose to drop the lahoratory requirement in first-level chemistry wurses on the grounds that is pedagogically and philosophically unsound to teach chemistry without laboratory experience. This was not a tmlv forced choice made bv the chemistm department sinc;the engineering schoolmade what they felt was the forced choice opting for the second-semester lecture without the accompanying laboratory experience. In this oresent oninion niece.. I want to limit the discussion to chemi$try courses that are taken as a "core" reauirement. In mv circumstance this means the clientele are business school students and arts students of the School of Arts and Sciences. The business school has lone since made its choice, namely that their students will taki the lecture but not the laboratory. Unhappily since that choice has been made already and is not likely to change we are left onlv with the discussion as it aoolies to the arts n some segments of thearts community students. ~ v e now are trvina to chanee the requirements in the direction that the b&
