STUDENT GUIDANCE. I. THE SELECTION AND SEQUENCE OF COURSES OUTSIDE THE MAJOR FIELD*
In recent years much has been written and spoken concerning the training which the college and university should give to the student who expects to enter the field of chemistry. Too little attention, however, has been given to the order of the pogram. Follaving the example set by the technicel schools, the departments of chemistry i n our colleges and graduate schools should give more adequate and detailed guidance to the student in the selection and the sequence of those supporting courses which he should take outside his own majorfield.
. . . . . . Within a few days now many of us will be signing or accepting enrolment
cards for the various courses in chemistry which we teach. As usual, we shall be on our guard to see that no student enters our class unless he has completed the prerequisites which entitle him to admission. Many of us will also be approving the schedules of our major students. Doubtless, we shall exercise great care to see that each student signs up for the right course in chemistry. All too often, however, our hidance stops there and the student is left to plan his own four-year program as best he may, in spite of the fact that much has been written and spoken concerning the various fields in which a chemist should be trained. To be sure, the situation is different in most technical schools, for there the entire course of study leading to a particular degree is published in detail. A student runs little chance of making a mistake in selecting his program for a given semester, for the reason that some one with experience and vision has planned it all out and has prescribed not only the courses which the student is to take in his major field hut also those supporting courses which will give h i necessary information or desirable training in related fields. Unfortunately, nothing at all comparable to such detailed programs has yet been worked out and published in many of our liberal arts colleges. Lest I should be misunderstood, let me hasten to state that I am not advocating the abolition of the elective system which exists in most colleges, but I am suggestingthat students in liberal arts colleges need more guidance in both the selection of the courses which they are to take and the planning of their future program of study. If a student is left to select his own program of courses, he is apt to blunder because he lacks experience and perspective. If he drifts into the hands of one of those "campus wise men," who prefer "working a prof" to * Presented before the Division of Chemical Education at the 80th meeting of the American Chemical Society, Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 8-12, 1930. 294
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working a problem, he is apt to hunt for easy courses regardless of how they will fit his present or future needs. If he is advised by some one outside his own major department, be is apt to be advised to get his required courses out of the way a t the earliest possible date, leaving his major until later. This latter advice, although given by mature and sincere advisers, may be almost as bad as for the student to blunder along alone or to hunt for the snap courses, because such advice takes no account of the courses which a student should take in order to support his major or to prepare him for courses which have certain prerequisites which must be met. Let me illustrate. In many of our liberal arts colleges it is required that a student must complete certain hours in courses distributed among several groups. Suppose that these groups are as follows: (1) English, (2) science or mathematics, (3) history or social science, and (4) foreign language. Suppose further that a freshman, planning to specialize in chemistry but unacquainted in the department, follows the routine of the enrolment and, after such advice as is usually provided, signs up for a course consisting of English, history, Spanish, chemistry, and physical training. To any one checking the course in the registrar's office it would appear that all was well. The freshman has selected only those courses which will count toward meeting the group requirements. After another year, if he is equally careful in his selection of courses, all the group requirements will have been met, and the student, then a junior, will be in a position to work out his major without the interference of required courses in other fields. You may not agree with me, but it seems to me that our freshman has made a t least two mistakes which were not apparent to persons outside the department of chemistry. First, if he had any idea of becoming a chemist, he should have signed up for mathematics during his freshman year. This would open the road to physics, and pave the way for courses which would enable him to take physical chemistry when the time comes. Second, the Spanish which he elected is not apt to help him much in reading the references to the journal literature which are apt to be assigned in his advanced chemistry. As a result, difficulties lie ahead which might have been avoided. But, how is a student to know unless such information is brought to his attention either in printed form or as the friendly counsel of a well-informed and interested adviser? It is possible that the four-year program which you would work out for a chemistry major a t your school will differ somewhat from the four-year program which we have outlined for chemistry majors a t Ohio Wesleyan. The purpose of the present paper, however, is not to raise questions as
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to what courses should he recommended nor to indicate the year in which we believe a certain course should be given, although admittedly these are important problems. What I am trying to suggest is this. Many students encounter schedule difficulties in the later years of their study of chemistry for the simple reason that, somewhere hack in the line, they failed to take the right course at the proper time. Indeed, altogether too many students emerge from the college, and even from the graduate school, without properly balanced courses. It is my contention that most of such difficulties could be avoided if the departments of chemistry should see to it that adequate information and intelligent guidance are available for all who wish to specialize in chemistry. Such a guidance program presupposes that the department of chemistry has studied the problem as it exists in the school concerned, has made contact with and secured the cooperation of the departments which must give the related and supporting courses, has checked the schedule of the college to see that conflicts are avoided, and finally has provided the printed matter, information, and personnel to carry out its program.
