editorially /peaking
So, Why Aren't There More Chemistry Majors? A number of commentators have discussed the implications of the shrinking pool of precollege, science-oriented students on the current state of chemical education-at all levels, in colleges, universities, and beyond. Demographic projections predict a serious shortage of college and university teachers as well as a short fall of qualified industrial chemists. and others who need an extensive knowledge of chemistry. Lndergraduateprogramsare shrinkingand grada t m a n y institutions are being seriously afuate fected-all for the lack of qualified students in the appropriate oools. Numerous state. Federal. and orivate initiatives have been devised to increase the size of tke various poolsproviding research experiences for high school students and undergraduates, etc. But most of these attempts correspond to "rohbinn Peter to oav Paul"; thev essentiallv do not increase the pools, rather they move stidents from one pool to another more rapidly. However, there appears to be a very large pool of students a t the university and college level who seem to have been ianored by our efforts, viz., that group - of science--and other--majors who populate the service-oriented courses a t the freshman level. Whv is the return-students acouirine an interest in chem&try-so small from this group f; stulents, all of whom are "rioe for the nickine" if a serious attemot were made to have tkem become interested in chemistry;! Our system of colleee level education often has orovided teachinn chemists with; pool of students who either have some interest in the sciences or have been told they should have. Yet apparently we remain oblivious to this opportunity. Teaching the students in the first-year service courses is often looked upon as a drudgery-an assignment to Coventry-by most chemistry faculty. If we believe, as some have argued, that many people, for example, high school students, do not understand the inherent interest in the nature of our sub-
ject, why don't we try to use the same techniques that are suggested for high school students to help thestudents in our service courses become excited about the subject? A one percent return on efforts directed a t this pool of students would yield ten's of chemistry majors in many institutions. Unfortunately, institutions where such returns could he attained are probably the ones where special attention is provided only for declared chemistry majors-undoubtedly an appropriate use of resources. Even a cursory examination of the conditions that envelope most chemistry service courses suggests that relatively little effort is expended in developing student interest in chemistry. Chemistry curricula are generally not suited to accommodate the "new-born chemistry major". The assistants assigned to these courses are either not interested in teaching or they are from the latest class of graduate students and they will be rotated out of the course after a term or a vear. Aoorooriate resources often are not allocated to .. . such~courses,for example, funds for redoing, rethinking, refurbishing, retooling the laboratorv comoonent: it is often assumed b; administrators, someti&es starting a t the departmental chair level who should know better, that such courses need no local developmental effort to help keep them vital, that somehow some publishers will produce a "packet of instructional materials" that can be .'adopted" to producea turn-key solution to the revitalization problem. In effect. thev think that someone else will do it. and it can be bought onethe open market and translated in& a solution to a local oroblem with little or no local effort exoended. Departments that are genuinely interested in increasing the number of undergraduate chemistry majors can start with the students in their own service courses. It is a rich, JJL highly concentrated lode well worth working.
Volume 65
Number 10 October 1988
841
