Some Problems of the De~artmentof Chemistry Universities' LAURENCE L. QUILL ~ n i v e i & t of ~ Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
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HE philosophy of a department of chemistry in a state-supported college or university may be outlined in terms of the functions of the department, which are manifold and multifarious. The department is: First, a training center for inculcating within the minds of young men and women a better and higher concept of citizenry; Second, an organization to teach the fundamentals of chemistry to those students planning on engineering, medicine, medical technology, home economics, et cetera, as professions; Third, a department to give advanced undergraduate training for those students entering the profession of chemistry; Fourth, an institution for graduate training in chemistry, and for the development of the future leaders for the state and the nation in the field of chemistry; Fifth, an institution making important contributions to and increasing our knowledge of the science of chemistry. Thus the department is a service department and, a t the same time, a professional department. Many of the problems that arise are the result of its dual nature. As a service department, it provides training in fundamentals required as a background for those students majoring not in chemistry, but in the allied professions. It serves also in the science programs needed for a liberal education for those students who are aiming to broaden their educational experience. The department should also aim to give to the citizens of a commonwealth correct information about chemical facts and about the significance of chemistry as part of the publicity program of the school. It should participate in adult education programs to help those desirous of learning something in addition to that which they acquired in their formal educations. As a professional department, i t provides cumcula for the bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees, as well as opportunity for research, by means of which staff members may increase their knowledge of chemistry, or of the history of the science, or of chemical education. The philosophy of a department may also be stated in terms of functions of a practical nature, which are teaching, research, and administration. First, there is no substitute for good teaching, which
Presented before the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society, 108th meeting, New York City, September 12. 1944.
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should be an activity of primary interest camed on by the department. Second, the progressive teacher does some research, which may take on the character of purely scientific research or research in the fields of either chemical education or the history of the science. The experience gained in any of these fields of study prevents the instructor from becoming too fixed in his ideas and causes him to be more alert to the problems of the present. Third, no teacher can entirely and completely divorce himself from problems of administration. Reports of student progress, the grading of examinations, conferences with students, participation on regularly appointed university and departmental committees are all a part of the responsibilities assumed when one accepts a position as a university instructor. Obviously, there must be an interweaving of these three activities in such a manner that there shall be good teaching and good administration. It is also essential that the university officials shall have a broad outlook on the problems, so that the staff members shall receive the recognition they deserve regardless of the phase of the departmental activities to which they make the greatest contribution. It is perhaps best to consider next the type of clientele which the departments of chemistry will have in the next few years. Departments must satisfy the needs of three main groups of students who will register a t the universities. Each of these groups will demand special consideration with respect to curricula and administration. The three main groups of students will be: (a) A group of ex-service men and women, older, more mature than the average college student, who will have had an interrupted formal education but who will have acquired certain special kuowledges and well-defined ideas about their future course of study. (6) Upper division and graduate students whose previous training had qualified them for professional o r other advanced courses of study. (c) As in the past, high-school graduates between the ages of 16 and 20, and also a group of older ex-service personnel, with indefinite ideas of what they want or why they are a t the university. The departmental clientele will therefore be a mixture of two groups of students desiring a thorough training in the fundamentals of chemistry for use in their respective professions (the chemists and chemical engineers on the one hand, the predental, premedical, engineering, and other similar groups on the other), and
a third type desirous of learning some chemistry or other science for the sake of culture or general education. There may be some pressure, unfortunately, to create a too diluted course for the beneiit of the last group. The departments will be obligated to have curricula to meet the requirements of the three types of students. No major difficulties will be manifested in designing courses for the first two professional groups except that the instructors must be keenly aware that the war effort has caused chemistry and physics to reach a stage of development a t the present time which, under the normal rate of progress, would not have been reached until 1955or 1960. In other words, the two sciences and their closely allied fields could be considered as 15 years ahead of the normal schedule. It is natural to ask what the effect of this abnormal rate of progress will have on the teaching programs. Our first reaction should be that we must develop our methods of teaching chemistry to the same state of development as has been achieved in the research field. The instructor should make a careful inventory of his well-worn lecture notes to select carefully the necessary fundamentals from the mass of obsolete information, and then to add those modern applications which are pertinent to the problem of the moment. This revamping of courses should include the advanced as well as the beginning courses. One point must be made about the instructor. In many schools, army and navy programs have impinged upon the teaching program. The instructors have been forced to drop what little research they were doing. They had no time to do war research in their laboratories. They have been out of the march of progress. Now they face the problem of trying to build up an enthusiasm to learn of the recent advances a t a time when they are very tired and still very busy. There are a few points which should be observed about the elementary course. The first point deals with the designation of the course. It is unfortunate that there still persists today an idea that freshmen or introductory college chemistry is inorganic chemistry. Although most college catalogs now refer to the first course as general or elementary or introductory chemistry, there are many people who continue to think of it as the inorganic chemistry which they studied 20 or more years ago. This comment is directed primarily toward teachers in subjects other than chemistry, although there are some chemists who use the terms "general" and "inorganic" synonymously. General or introductory chemistry is exactly what the words imply. It is a composite of the simple fundamentals of the science chosen from the four fields, analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical. The course is essentially an orientation in chemistry for the science student. It should have the proper balance of fundamental facts to give the foundation for future study in chemistry or closely allied fields. Inorganic chemistry deals with a broader, more complex compendium of facts about the chemical elements and their compounds than
can be given in a beginning course. The student just starting his career does not have a sufficient background for inorganic chemistry any more than he does for the other fields. So let us keep in mind that if we do not think of freshmen chemistry as inorganic chemistry, we shall have simplified the task of organizing the firstyear course. As a question for thought a t this point, let us interject the thoughts of some t$achers of chemistry about a more ideal method for planning the elementary work for majors in chemistry. There are some who believe that a carefully integrated two-year fundamental course, with selected topics from analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry would be a better scheme than the usual series af general, qualitative, and quantitative courses. Such a two-year course would mean the discontinuance of the usual dividing lines between these three courses, and would serve to give the students a much better background for their advanced study in the four fields. The two-year integrated course might actually save time which could be used to advantage in other areas. It is admitted that a two-year sequence of this type would not be suitable for the premedical, predental, and other groups. As a second point, we might ask ourselves whether or not our textbooks are suitable for the purpose in mind. At present nearly all of our elementary textbooks are compilations of chemical facts of about 600 to 700 pages in length. In the usual classroom work, one-half to two-thirds of the material is used; the remainder was printed so the instructor could have excess material from which to make a choice or to assign as extra reading to the better students. We might well take a hint from the authors of the several chemistry outlines which have appeared on the bookstore counters these last few years and take our textbooks apart. There is probably a happy medium somewhere between the student outline series and the usual freshmen text. A third point about teaching applies to the use of visual aids. Experiences of the armed forces and industries in the training of large groups of young people with the minimum expenditure of time and effort has been greatly aided by means of animated diagrams, carefully chosen lantern slides, and moving pictures. There is no doubt that these methods have many iuherently good points. They certainly are used to advantage in processes where training is more paramount than education. Nevertheless there is a real challenge to choose the best ideas from the methods of visual education for employment in the teaching of chemistry. The visual aids may be most useful in teaching a chemistry course for liberal education and for adult education. One inherent difficulty about the use of visual aids which must be overcome is the procurement of the proper equipment. This item will be costly; administrations frequently are not in favor of paying large sums for suitable projecting apparatus. The sales argument in favor of securing the equipment, however, is that a large number of students will benefit greatly, and that the equipment is most suitable for the course in libera-
education. The chances are great that it will be easier to purchase projection apparatus for use in the teaching of a fad than it would be to get an equivalent sum for the purchase of a greatly needed piece of apparatus for a lively research program. The construction of a cumculum for majors in chemistry who desire to follow the science as a profession should not raise any important questions. The American Chemical Society tbough its Committee on the Professional Training of Chemists has established a set of minimum requirements. The suggested program is in general considered reasonable and not too rigid. On the other hand, however, college faculties have provided a list of minimum requirements which must be satisfied for graduation. In a large number of instances there are no major conflicts between the two sets of requirements and it is possible to plan a cumculum which will meet both the college and the American Chemical Society rules. In many colleges the faculty acknowledges that the degree of bachelor of science in chemistry is a professional degree and as such is entitled to special consideration. Consequently, a rule is passed waiving the college requirements for any students who can successfully and satisfactorily carry the more rigid chemistry curriculum. If so, all is well. In many other cases, the college faculties are composed of a majority of persons who have a phobia that every student must be graduated with a large amount of social science as a background for a liberal education. Since this group has the voting majority there is usually no compromise on the issue. Any attempt on the part of chemistry departments in such schools to develop specialized courses, although they include sufficienthumanistic studies to satisfy the American Chemical Society requirements, meets with defeat or is passed begrudgingly. Such an action creates a situation which is not pleasant. Chemists are not against the idea of a broad or liberal education. They know that the young person who is being educated in chemistry should be made aware of the social and economic conditions of the world and how those conditions will affect him and his profession. Chemists also realize the value of the languages, of public speaking, and advanced English composition as adjunct studies. But chemists are not in accord with the idea that the chemistry curricula shall have a maximum of social science and a minimum of chemistry. One of the problems which we shall have to face in the next few years will be the strong pressure to increase the amount of humanistic studies or social science needed for graduation. In order to make room for these liberalizing studies, it will probably be necessary to remove some of the science subjects. How might we answer the challenge so that the program will contain the needed scientific courses as well as the optimum amount of the social studies? Perhaps now is the time to extend the chemistry curriculum into a five-year course. Perhaps now is the time to decide what distinction shall be made between the training program for the technician and the educational pro-
gram of a chemist. Perhaps we should even go so far as to coin a new term to designate either the chemist or the technician so that the man in the street or the politician will not he confused about the difference between the professional chemist who has the "know how" and the technician who is a pair of hands carrying out the essential chemical operations. There are many who will think that the problem snggested in the last few statements is not a great h e . For those departments in large state-supported schools that were put on the accredited list of the American Chemical Society during the early days of the work of the Committee, the problem is not serious. However, for the departments in schools which have not been accredited, the problem is a difficult one because college faculties are already seething with new ideas about liberal programs. Closelv related to both the c h e m i s k curriculum and the iiberal studies programs is the q;estion about varied types of chemistry curricula. Those of us who advise majors in chemistry are only too well aware of the fact that a goodly number of those who start out in the bachelor of science cumculum are not suited to that kind of training. These persons either are graduated with poor records or they change to other fields of endeavor. Many of them have a keen interest in science and would do an excellent job if they were trained in a cumculum which included a large amount of chemistry and also certain other adjunct studies. For example, curricula can be devised to prepare technical sales personnel, chemical librarians, scientific secretaries, and a host of other nonlaboratory chemists. One aim of the departments in state-supported institutions should he to offer a variety of curricula, built perhaps around a common core, which will afford a means of educating those who do not have that "chemical sense" necessary for the research chemist but who nevertheless are intelligent and capable enough to fill very essential jobs in the chemical industries. The concept of a terminal course in chemistry designed to meet the needs of a liberal education program has been mentioned. We shall not debate what the type of course should be, but we can discuss one or two of the problems which such courses create. The first point is a favorable criticism. The terminal course, if well planned and taught, can be a very strong advertisement for the department. All of us have had experiences with students who took chemistry to meet a science requirement and became disgruntled. In their mumblings, such students can do a department considerable harm. This tendency can be completely avoided if the importance and the role of this type of course is recognized and appropriate action is taken. The other point in connection with the terminal course deals not with the teaching program but with the recognition of the instructor. One of the prime arguments by the administration is that they desire the best of teaching for the terminal course. However, when the department head makes his recommendation for the promotion of the instructor who has put forth
real effort and has sacrificed personal study to make the course a success, he is fist asked how much research has the instructor done, and what contributions has he made to the welfare of the department in the form of publications. The net result is that this instructor does not receive a well-deserved increase in rank or in salary. One can find many examples in discussing this problem with his mutual friends that the man who does the research gets the recognition, while the man who accepts the responsibility of teaching this most difficult type of course receives only the satisfaction of a job well done as his reward. I n one state institution, younger men, all of whom are capable teachers, have refused to participate in the liberal education type of course because, after observing for a four-year period how some of their colleagues were treated, they realized that those who had accepted this responsibility seriously had not received anything in return. There is an advisory problem with which college administrators must cope that will also affect chemistry departments to some extent. I speak for the moment of the attitude which may be taken by some of the exservice men and women students. The problem may be more difficult with those who are being rehabilitated. These students will be more mature. They will have very definite ideas of what they want and how they want to get it. They will be desirous of getting the best background for the future. They will not want to be babied with a lot of frills which are part of the requirements for education, unless they can see a very definite place for them in their own specific programs. These same students will also be very critical of the teaching methods and of the teachers. Most of them will have learned by hard experience what they hope to attain by attending college. Those of us who will be facing them in the classroom must attempt to learn what we can of the problems which these people will have and then try to help them in the solution of the problems. We must be prepared to take an active part in the advisory program of the college. We must build up a strong advisory plan for our own majors. The colleges and universities must seriously contend with the criticism made of them that there should be better student guidance. The chemistry departments must play their part in making a success of the undertaking. There have already been minor difficulties in one or two schools because of an apparent lack of understanding of the problems of the returning soldiers. Let us try to avoid i t in our schools. The thought was introduced earlier that the department of chemistry is a service department for the premedical, predental, engineering, and other student groups. Another type of service in which the department of chemistry should be vitally interested concerns the proper training of prospective teachers for the secondary schools. There are many who will argue that it;is not within the province of the department of chemistry to become involved in the problems of secondary-school education. Nevertheless, in the statesupported colleges, we must take the product from the
secondary schools, good, bad, or in-between as i t may he. Then we must try to develop the product further. Many of us who try to teach elementary chemistry to high-school graduates with a background inadequate or entirely lacking in high-school mathematics realize the importance of this problem. What can the department and the chemist do about this problem? They can quietly become active in a campaign to set up better requirements for the certification of high-school teachers in the fields of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. College chemistry departments should cooperate with departments of education to devise professional training programs for high-school science teachers. In Indiana, there is a statewide committee which has made proposals for the certification of science teachers which are being considered by the State Department of Education. In its last report for a meeting held in July, the Cooperative Committee on Science Teaching recommended that the "major function of the Committee should be concerned with preparation and inservice training of science and mathematics teachers for the secondary and lower schools." The newly formed National Science Teachers Association, by having a unified organization, hopes to develop a longrange program for the improvement of science teaching. In some states, there is a high degree of cooperation between the persons responsible for inspecting and accrediting high schools and the university departments. In other states, the universities and the state departments of education work together on this problem. We who are teaching a t the college and university level should not neglect this problem of science preparation of prospective high-school teachers. With the physics and mathematics departments, we should conduct an educational program on how elementary training should be done. In other words, we must not blame the educationist if he plans the best high-school program he can, if we sit idly by and do not help. But there should be a word of caution as well, since it must not be forgotten that only a small portion of the high-school graduates go on to college. There should not be so much pressure put upon the secondary school administration that they come to believe all high-school students should take a college preparatory course. That, too, would be a mistake. We shonld be broad minded in our counsel. We should aim as specialists to devise a program suitable for the high-school student whose formal education will be terminated a t high-school graduation as well as providing a good background for the prospective college student. Departments of chemistry should assist in and profit from another kind of service which is active participation in the programs of the state academies of science. They can do a real service to the education in the state and in the training of chemists as good speakers by quietly and informally providing the encouragement and organization of good programs. They can exert a strong influence for better teaching and can encourage research programs in the smaller colleges by active cooperation in the academy programs. By such action,
the departments will aid the chemistry teachers in many smaller colleges who enjoy professional meetings but cannot attend national society assemblies as often as they would like to. These teachers are not paid too well. They are frequently alone in their departments, and hence have no substitutes to replace them if they desire to attend a meeting. They like to talk to their colleagues about their problems and to gain new ideas. If they can attend a well-organized state academy meeting, they will return home with an enthusiasm that the more fortunate of us gain by attendance a t the uational meeting. Too often we hear of members in large state university departments who say they cannot be bothered by such a trivial matter as a state academy meeting. There is neither the atmosphere nor the audience to match their egos. Nevertheless, if one or two men in the department will serve as the coordinating group in helping with the programs, and if the departments will in a semiofficial manner give support to the attempt to have good programs, great benefit will come to the department. For example, the department will be sponsoring better teach in^. ", because the state academv oromam.. if well and properly organized, provides an excellent training ground for graduate students and younger staff members in the presentation of scientific papers. It must be impressed on the younger people that it is as essential to make a good appearance and to have a well-organized talk before the state academy as it is before the national society. Preparations for the talk should be made accordingly. The program should not be composed entirely of papers from the department of the state school. The staff members of the smaller colleges and high schools should play an active part. They will gain in experience for having spoken before friendly groups other than those they meet day after day in their classrooms. It must not be implied that the chemistry department should dictate the policies or the activities of the chemistry sections of the state academies, but rather that it should be a source of guidance in promoting activities for those who are unable to attend the national meetings. Two important benefits to the department will be the ultimate result. First, there will be a better spirit of cooperation built up amongst the chemists of the state with the department. Second, there will be a better understanding of the type of chemical training needed for the students in the small colleges who are desirous of doing graduate work. This latter point is important, since a large percentage of the graduate students working for the doctorate come from the smaller colleges. A major task in all departments of chemistry a t the present time is the securing of suitably trained personnel. The needs of the armed forces and of the war industries have disrupted the staffs of every department of chemistry in the country. The rules of the Selective Service system operate against the continuance in training of the most capable young men. Consequently, the number of young people now in the graduate schools *
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is inadequate to meet the demands. Without discussing details, i t can be stated that in all probability a t least five years will elapse before our graduate schools will again be turning out a sufficient number of persons to fill those positions of greater responsibility which are available. Let us disregard for the moment the usual difficulties faced in selecting a staff member in order to consider the suggestion that a certain percentage of a depqtmental staff should have had some industrial experience. Normally, three factors are observed in the choice of a new staff member, namely, his proved or potential research performance, his teaching and administrative capacity, and his ability to work and live with his colleagues. These three points are important, but successive selections based on them alone often lead to the building up of a staff which is not directly interested in any sort of industrial point of view. The department will thus take too academic an outlook toward the chemist's training program, whereas the majority of the students will be absorbed by industry following graduation. It is therefore suggested that a few, about 20 per cent, of the staff members have a more intimate knowledge of industrial practices. Such a procedure will have many advantages. Instructors who have this qualification will have a better appreciation of the difficulties and problems which will be faced by the young graduates. They can advise the beginning engineers and chemists that hard work will be the order of the day until recognition of effort results. Another benefit will accrue to the teaching program. Many of us who devote our lives to living within academic areas do not have any genuine concept of methods or processes on an industrial scale. We tell the students how the book states a reaction takes place, whereas industrial practice may be drastically different. The instrnctors who have had commercial experience will greatly enrich departmental offerings. Naturally it will be asked how colleges and universities will be able to secure capable young men who have been accustomed to industrial salary rates. As a suggestion, i t would probably be an excellent idea to have a few such salaries in the college budget as a goal toward which other salaries could be increased. At this time i t is desired to point out a method by means of which a staff member can gain some industrial experience. When this country has returned to a peacetime schedule, i t might be a good plan for an industry to hire a few university instructors for the summer months in the research or control laboratories. A suggestion that might be worth while would be to ask the instructor to survey critically some operation in the plant as an impartial observer. Since he will not have the inhibitions suffered by those who are very familiar with a process, he will very probably, by means of his observations and his foolish questions, contribute many ideas to the notebooks. This type of survey would be just as valuable as one written for Chemical R ~ or ~ Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, except that the
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survey is made on a process in operation rather than from the published literature. One can imagine many benefits from such a program. The industry would gain by having suggestions made by an interested observer. The instructor would gain from a broadened experience and an increased payroll for the year. The student would profit from the better teaching which would result from the wider knowledge of the instructor. The school would benefit from the contacts made by the staff member. The cost of hiring the instructors for the summer periods would not be a big item in the industrial program. It would be small compared to the over-all gains. In the program of a state-supported school, consideration should be given to the development of research on the natural resources of the state. The departments of chemistry too f ~ q u e n t l ysponsor only purely academic programs. However, if some attention is paid t o the natural resources of a community, the department will ultimately reap the benefits. I t must not he
implied that the chemistry department should become totally industrialized. Chemical engineering departments are planned for that purpose. Basically, the chemistry department has the function of teaching chemistry and of pursuing fundamental research, yet i t should assist in programs which develop the natural products of the region. Such investigations could still be fundamental in character hut of value to the commonwealth. In turn, the department would profit because the citizens would feel that they were getting something in return for their support of the school and they would be willing to increase their help if it were needed. Naturally there are many other problems and worries which confront a department and its administrative head. The few questions which have been discussed should provoke thought. If that is the case, the other problems will appear. All of them will be found, upon analysis, to be important in the successful carrying out of the philosophies outlined in the opening paragraphs.
