New Ideas in The Four-Year Chemistry Curriculum INTRODUCTION TO SYMPOSIUM T H E Committee on Teaching of the Division of Chemical Education proposed the Symposium of New Ideas in the College Chemistry Curriculum for the 132nd Meeting of the A.C.S. in New York, September, 1957, with the purpose of bringing attention of the members of the Division t o experiments in chemical education now in progress in this country. It was evident to the committee from the papers given before the Division in recent years, many of which have appeared in THIS JOURNAL, that there had been plenty of tinkering with individual courses by single instructors or small groups in a Department, but that few whole Departments had considered entire curriculum offerings for revision. The papers given in this Symposium suggest, however, that several schools had been thinking in this direction, and a significant number of the programs reported here actually went into effect in September, 1957.
The significant changes in instruction in chemistry which seem to pervade the present atmosphere are the following: (1) Analytical chemistry is being offered later in the curriculum whiie organic chemistry appears earlier; (2) more effort is being made to recognize good high school teaching in chemistry; (3) more effort is being made to challenge the good student in the beginning college course. The last change is directly connected to the second. The papers will appear in two consecutive issues of THIS JOURNAL. The first group is concerned with the content of the whole four-year program; the second will deal more specificallywith certain courses.
B. CLAPP LEALLYN B n o m UNIVERSITY PROVIDENCE 12, R.I.
Chainnun of Symposium
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
