Edward C. Fuller
Beloit College Beloit, Wisconsin 5351 1
Multidisciplinary Courses for Science Majors
In a recent article1 the author presented an analysis of multidisciplinary courses in science which are offered primarily as a part of general education for students not planning t o major in science. The data came from about a thousand respondents to a questionnaire sent to the chemistry departments in 900 colleges and universities offering four years of undergraduate college work and 700 two-year colleges. The Advisory Council on College Chemistry sponsored this study. The data presented in this paper came from the same respondents but deal with multidisciplinary courses taught to students majoring or planning to major in science. Such courses are increasing in number. In the case of courses combining chemistry and physics, there were a dozen in 1961,2twenty-two in 1964,' and thirty-three in 1966. The following figures vary slightly from those presented previously1 which were taken directly from the computer print-out. The data reported here were obtained by careful reading of the 75 questionnaires returned which stated that multidisciplinary courses were taught to science majors. Eleven of theseanswer sheets were incorrectly filled out and had to be discarded. The 64 institutions which now offer multidisciplinary courses with various combinations of science and mathematics for science majors include 6 two-year colleges and 58 four-year institutions. In ten of these 64, the same multidisciplinary course is taught to both science and nonscience majors; almost half of the rest offer one multidisciplinary course to science majors and a different one to nonscience majors; the remainder teach multidisciplinary courses only to science majors. Eight institutions offer no introductory course in chemistry or physics other than a combined course. Several institutions give more than one multidisciplinary course for science majors, 82 courses being offered at the 64 institutions. Private institutions lead in the development of multidisciplinary courses-49 of the 64 being privately supported. Fourteen state institutions have such courses but there is only one in a municipal college. Chemistry is included in 76 of the 82 courses; physics in 52. Biology is found in 38 courses and mathematics in 24. Geology is included in only 6 courses. Three hours per week of laboratory work is the mode but a significant number of courses require more than this. Two-thirds of these courses prepare students for more advanced work in science; others are the basic courses for applied science majors who then move into more FULLER,E. C., J . CHEM.EDUC.44,542 (1967). FULLER,E. C., AND PALMER, R.R., J. CHEM.EDUC.39, 346 (1962).
J. CHEM.EDUC.41,677 (1964).
specialized technologies. Physics majors are served by multidisciplinary courses in 38 institutions, chemists in 29, biologists in 12, and geologists in 1. Fewer than 50 students are enrolled in most sections of these courses but some run above this figure, one enrolling over 500. Numbers of Courses with Various Combinations of Disciplines Chemistry-physics Chemistry-physics-mathemaiics Chemistry-mathematics Physics-mathematics Biology-chemist,rymathematics Biology-physics Biology-chemistrygeology-physicsmathematics
26 7
5 4 2 1 1
Biology-chemistry 22 Biology-chemistry-physics- 5 mathematics Biology-chemistry-physics 5 Chemistry-geology-physics 2 Biology-chemistry-geology1 physics Biology-geology 1
Comments by Respondents: Elementary Courses
Several respondents noted the special needs of students preparing to be secondary school teachers of science. These students need courses which will integrate their understanding into a whole rather than leaving it in unrelated fragments. The inclusion of experimentation in the laboratory for such courses was emphasized as a way of building confidence in the handling of simple scientific equipment. At Tarkio College, the first two trimesters of a combined chemistry-physics course are taken by both science and nonscience majors; a third trimester is taken by science majors to prepare them for more advanced work in chemistry and physics. The introductory science curriculum at Park College centers about Natural Science 101 (a semester of mathematics and physics) and Natural Science 102 (a semester of biology and chemistry). Each of these courses meets for four hours of lecture, three of laboratory, and two of recitation per week; the course carries 6 semesterhours credit each semester. At Florida Presbyterian College in St. Petershurg, a four-semester "Core Science" course is taken by all students. In the first semester mechanics is used to develop the concept of energy; in the second, chemical energetics is used to introduce classical and modern atomic theory. The study of macromolecules leads into the biological phenomena studied in the third semester. The fourth semester is devoted to a study of geological and biological evolution and the social evolution of the role of science in society. At Ursinus College a course involving nine semesterhours for each of two semesters includes general chemistry, general physics, and basic mathematics. I t is designed to minimize repetition and takes advantage of Volume 45, Number 9, September 1968
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the complementary nature of these subjects. As the calculus is developed it is used in the presentation of the concepts of chemistry and physics. The first semester includes- chemistry of the common elements of the periodic system, their interactions and energy relationships; analytical geometry and the calculus with respect to functions of one variable; elementary mechanics and heat. The second semester deals with: oxidation states of the common elements, chemical equilibrium, solubility, and pH; the calculus of more than one variable; sound, light, electricity, and magnetism. The course meets for seven hours of lecture and two three-hour laboratory periods (one in chemistry and one in physics) per week each semester. These two semesters are prerequisite to any further work in chemistry or physics. Pitzer, Scripps, and Claremont Men's College of the Claremont Colleges jointly sponsor a combined physicschemistry course in the first semester of the freshman year followed by concurrent semesters in physics and chemistry. This is the only beginning course for those professionally interested in science. Physics and chemistry majors at Pitzer, Scripps, and Claremont Men's college are brought together again in a junior year physics-chemistry course which is largely quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and classical physical chemistry. At Worcester Polytechnic Institute a course in "Structural Chemistry" is taken by sophomore chemists, physicists, and chemical engineers and by a number of junior electrical engineers for a total enrollment of about 120 students. This course covers an introduction to four areas: quantum mechanics, quantum molecular structure, statistical mechanics, and the solid state. In the New College of Hofstra University a course in "The Physical Basis of Chemical Bonding" is taught by a physicist. This is the culmination of related work in basic mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Courses including the history and philosophy of science for junior or senior science majors have been popular in some colleges. One of the most ambitious of all the trial programs reported is that offered in the Experimental College of Tufts University. It is intended to give students, in the course of two years, sufficient knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics to permit them to enter any of these departments as juniors on a comparable footing with students who have taken the conventional course sequence, and a t the same time to be eventually much better biologists, chemists, or physicists because of their unusually solid foundation in the other two sciences. The course includes an essential minimum of mathematics (calculus and some statistics) during the first year; students who anticipate majoring in physics or chemistry are urged to take additional mathematics during their sophomore year.
Combined Courses in Other Countries
The chemistry-physics course a t the University of Toronto, Canada is designed for honors students who will later specialize in mathematics or a physical science. At Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, the physics-chemistry combination course is designed 612
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for students beyond their beginning year of college. The first term is devoted to the physics of the atom (quantization of charge, mass, radiant energy, atomic energy; matter waves; nuclear physics) and is taught by a physicist. In the second term the emphasis is on quantum chemistry (wave mechanics of H, and polyelectronic atoms and ions; molecular spectroscopy), intermolecular forces, crystals, and gases. One respondent called attention to the "Conference on the Integration of Physics and Chemistry Teaching" a t the University of Sheffield, England, in April of 1966. This conference was sponsored by the (British) Institute of Physics and the Physical Society and was attended by representatives of many British universities, schools, private foundations, and industrial enterprises. It is interesting to note that a staff of 20 instructors in the School of Molecular Sciences a t the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, is attempting to raze the barriers that compartmentalize science.' Their physics course deals with the behavior of matter in the extended state, the properties of matter being considered at the submolecular level. In chemistry they pay particular attention to atomic structure, thermodynamics, kinetics, and general physical chemistry. Mathematics is concerned with differential equations, partial differentiation and complex numbers. Crystallography and biochemistry are taught to secondyear students along with further chemistry and mathematics.
The Chicago Conference on Chemistry-Physics
Recognizing that chemistry-physics occupies the leading position among multidisciphnary combinations in courses for science majors, the Advisory Council for College Chemistry and the Commission on College Physics jointly sponsored a conference in Chicago on February 3-4, 1967, to examine in some detail the development of such courses. Sixteen colleges and universities where multidisciplinary courses have been developed were represented by a chemist or physicist. The Advisory Council, the Commission on Physics, and the Commission on Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences were also represented. Respondents to the questionnaire who wanted more information about combined courses had raised the following questions; these served as the basis for discussion at the Conference. (1) I n broad outline, what is the content of existing chemistry-physics courses? (2) How much of the student's time is scheduled for such courses? (3) Do these courses take the place of all first-year college work in general chemistry and general physics? (4) If not, how are students prepared for the chemistry and physics courses customarily taught to sophomores? (5) Have such courses been effective in reducing the course loads of students? (Is time really saved by eliminating duplication of material usually taught in both general chemistry and general physics?) (6) Are combined courses handled best by a single instructor or by two or more? (7) What textbooks are available?
' Physics Today, 19, 115 (1966).
Preparation for Sophomore Courses in Chemistry and Physics
The student who completes the combined course a t Bryn Mawr or Lawrence has covered most of the material usually taught in a year of general college chemistry and one of general college physics. He is thus prepared to enroll in the usual courses in second-year chemistry and physics. In these two colleges, suhstantial amounts of basic calculus are introduced early in the combined course so that the physics may be taught with the aid of calculus. At Bryn Mawr, students meet for five hours of lecture and six hours of laboratory work per week for two semesters and the course carries the equivalent of twelve to fourteen semesterhours of credit. This is a saving of time over the usual sixteen semester-hours for a year of general college chemistry and one of physics. A detailed report and the preliminary edition of a textbook for this course are available from the staff at Bryn Mawr. Lawrence University schedules each student for three courses per twelve week term and has three terms per academic year of thirty-six weeks. The three-term course combining chemistry and physics carries the equivalent of about twelve semester-hours of credit This, too, indicates a saving of time for the student when compared to the usual year of chemistry and year of physics. A textbook for this course is scheduled for commercial publication this year. The combined course a t Wahash introduces the calculus for use in teaching physics but does not attempt to prepare students for the usual second-year courses in chemistry and physics. Topics included are: Daltonian chemistry and the periodic table; Newtonian mechanics, thermodynamics, and some properties of bulk matter; electricity, magnetism, and fields; electromagnetic radiation and waves, modern concepts of atomic structure, nuclear phenomena; chemical periodicity, binding, energetics, equilibrium, and oxidation-reduction. A multilithed textbook and laboratory manual have been used for several years a t Wabash and are scheduled for commercial publication soon. The eight semester-hours of credit for the twosemester course in "Fundamental Principles of Physics and Chemistry" is supplemented by a four semesterhour course in inorganic chemistry and qualitative analysis and eight semester-hours of intermediate physics with major emphasis on optics, sound, propperties of matter, and mechanics of rigid bodies. These "follow-up" courses prepare students for the usual sophomore courses in chemistry and junior courses in physics. A student does not save much time under the Wabash plan but reducing duplication in chemistry and physics enables him to penetrate some subjects more deeply than in the usual year-course in chemistry and in physics.. At Beloit, the purpose of combining physics with first-year college chemistry is to strengthen the student's understanding of chemical thermodynamics, energetics, electrochemistry, atomic structure, the periodic table of the elements, bonding, and chemical dynamics. The physics included directly supports several of these topics.
Chemical Topics Kinetic theory of gases Thermochemistry Elementary thermodynamics Electrochemistry Thermodynamics of primary cells Chemical equilibria in such cells
Atomic structure
Nuclear chemistry
Supporting Physics Particle dynamics Work and energy Temperature and heat fhtkelectricity Electric potential and currents
~ i m p l dc e circuits (Electric and magnetic fields IForces on charges in such 1 fields [Characteristics of waves {Properties of electromagnetic I radiation IQuantum concepts 1 Bohr's model of the H atom I Wave-like properties of mov( ing particles Radioactivity and nuclear physics
A multilithed textbook is used in this course and will he available for commercial publication in a year or so. The two-semester, eight credit-hour course in "Basic Concepts of Chemistry and Physics" prepares a student for the usual sophomore course in organic chemistry and a course in the elementary physical chemistry of equilibria in aqueous and nonaqueous systems. The student who needs a year of college physics enrolls in general physics; the physics he has had in the course in "Basic Concepts" enables him to cover this material more rapidly than he could without this background. Procedures Used in Teaching Chemistry-Physics Courses
Those who have been involved in combined courses agree that there are advantages in having the chemistry taught by a chemist and the physics by a physicist. This is expensive in faculty time because each teacher needs to sit in on the other's lectures. This approach is likely to result in a level of presentation of each of the two sciences higher than that when one man teaches both sciences. The students find some disadvantages arismg from this system of dual instruction. It is difficult to "shift gears" in their relations with different classroom teachers having different expectations and methods of teaching. However, continuous consultation between chemist and physicist minimizes this problem. With ready and willing help from his colleagues a chemist can teach elementary physics and a physicist elementary chemistry, but it's harder work than teaching one's own specialty. Most chemistryphysics courses have evolved through the cooperative efforts of a team of chemists and physicists; some have disappeared because the team broke up due to appointments of its members to other institutions or because team work proved more demanding on faculty time than teaching one's own subject by itself and letting the students do the interrelating of concepts. Summary
Multidisciphnary courses are on the increase in spite of the extra demands they make on faculty. The sense of scientific wholeness which many teachers feel when presenting their science in relation to other disciplines more than compensates for the extra work required. Multidisciplinary teaching-like multidisciplinary research-calls for scientists more broadly Volume 45, Number 9, September 1968 / 613
trained than the run of the mill. The unity of science itself is evoking counterparts in unity of teaching and unity in research. It is clear that the successful operation of interdisciulinarv courses denends uuon findine teachers who are either competent in more than one science or who are not only willing but anxious to work with their colleagues m other departments. Any teacher who wishes to move in the direction of creating an interdisciplinary course can start by looking for bridges between his science and another; a combined course may be established if he can find a cooperative colleague in the other department If such cooperation is not forthcoming, he may proceed by educating himself in
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the other discipline and gradually evolving a course with interdisciplinary significance. The author has prepared a list of two- and four-year institutions which offer multidisciplinary courses for students majoring in the sciences. The list gives the name and address of the institution, the name of the respondent to the questionnaire, and the sciences included in the course. Single copies of this list (and reprints of this article) may be obtained free by writing to the Advisory Council on College Chemistry. Multiple copies can he ordered in lots of 10 if the order is accompani~dby a remittance of $1.50 per unit of 10 copies.
