1. Miszaros University of Szeged
Szeged, Hungary
I
A Ten-Year Experiment with Chemistry Students
should like to give an account of our experience with a program in which students of average ability are engaged in practical operations as a part of their training to become profeskional employees in the chemical industry. Ten years ago I recruited a group of twenty-five students who were in the second year of their university career. They joined the team on a voluntary basis, and devoted their spare time to the work. The job was to construct complete catalytic laboratory units, in which industrially important catalytic processes could be investigated and new processes developed on a laboratory scale. Another branch of the work dealt with new techniques and equipment for the atomization of metals. The students first learned the skills and types of work which, after graduation, will be the job of their subordinates. Thus, they learned to cut and turn metals, to weld, to use the thread cutter, to caulk tubes, to fit together heating and cooling systems, and to install electric circuits. More complicated jobs were given to those who could attain the level of the averarre - craftsman. The students considered these operations as a sort of "polytechnical club." They took part in the work with zeal, and as a result of the common effort, quite complex new units were constructed, improved, and further developed. Of course, the students were greatly interested in the application and practical use of the equipment of their own make and were even willing to organize themselves into shifts for around-the-clock operation when the investigation of some continuous catalytic processes required this. Our efforts and results were recognized by the industry: its support made it possible to buy new instruments which could not be home-made, and thus the work could be continued on a higher level. I n the next years, the "old hands" undertook the training of the younger students. I n this way they learned both team work and the art of leadership, even before they graduated. As an example, eight or nine students worked for their diploma theses by cooperating on different aspects of one larger project, while they got help from a few younger students working on problems of detail. Weekly meetings were held where reports were received with real mutual interest, and discussion gave new impetus-sometimes new linesto further work. Results in the work on detail problems often affected the whole project, and inversely, progress produced new detail problems. I n this way everybody could consider himself an important factor in the desired success of animportant, "large" project. Such a team proved especially useful in developing a technique based on a new technical principle, the elec-
tromagnetic atomization of metals. Twelve hundred possible combinations, laid out in tables, had to be checked, of which sixty-four were found promising. I n this way useful results have been produced in such widely different fields as catalysis, continuously conducted organometal reactions, coating with metals, automation, instrumentation, production of pulverized metals, and new demonstration equipment for teaching. Our useful results and new apparatus have been taken over by the Hungarian export-import trading company Metrimpex. Today some of the most important processes of the Hungarian chemical heavy industry can be studied in complete laboratory units developed along these lines, and the corresponding descriptions, published as Supplements to the university journal Acta Physiea et Chimica Szegediensis, afford internationally available, easy access to learning about these possibilities and provide for self-teaching. I n the course of the years we dealt with widely varied topics. As examples, the development of processes and equipment for oxidation, dehydration, cracking, and ammonolysis may be mentioned. New reactor types have been evolved, such as the molten-bed, mercury vapor-bed, pyrophoric metal, and atomized metal reactors. Many technological problems, e.g., the increasing of size of reactors, the influence of geometrical factors, equalizing of temperature gradients, etc., have been investigated. It would be beside the point to give here a detailed account of the diverse branches of our researches and of the results. Suffice it to say that this original research into reactor technology and into the modern, continuous unit processes of industrial organic chemistry evoked real enthusiasm in our students, which was expressed in the high number of their free hours devoted to this work. They became conscious of the advantages of correctly judging the order of importance in their research plans, and, in general, they acquired a great deal of self-reliance. Common manual work in a laboratory is an excellent opportunity to learn about the abilities and the character of the students, to guide them, and to develop the characteristics of a good leader in them. I found that younger students were generally quite willing to accept the leadership of their older colleagues, and they considered membership in the team an adequate recompensation, since it meant early secural of a good diploma and early training for their future work. It was refreshing to the teacher to witness the sporting spirit in the team, e.g., when students having their afternoon off dropped into the laboratory after their evening program in order to ask colleagues working in the night shift about recent developments. So as not to overrate our results, we must admit that Volume
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not every class and every year can turn out a team with high standards of enthusiasm. It is especially in these cases when the teacher may get tired of organizing and leading the group, and his own zeal may fade. This, of course, makes things still worse for the class. However, a mixed team consisting of students of various classes may afford a means of compensating for unevenness in the quality of students and for the consequent difficulties. As a result of my work over ten years, my opinion is that the classifications "mediocre student" and "outstanding student" need revision: not by obliterating the old standards of evaluation, but by completing them with some new aspects of judging quality. Such new categories, for instance, could be Student talented for leadership, with great self-reliance Excellent co-worker under proper guidance Adequate co-worker when led properly Stubborn, willful or obstinate student who cannot he led Student without any initiative or self-reliance, who cannot he led.
At present the demands made of a professional are markedly different when he is sitting for an examination than later, when he is on the job. Completion of the usual marks of qualification with some additional data, such as that mentioned before, would greatly help to judge in advance how useful a professional chemist is going to be, how well he can get things done, what is to be expected from him in team work, and how well he can put his knowledge to real use. I must stress that I do not recommend the following scheme for general acceptance; I suggest it only because I believe that it might be thought-provoking. However, if we do employ marks and grades to classify our students, we may as well complete this characterization with some further aspects of possible worth to a future employer. I n practice a net of 5 X 5 squares could be used (see Fig. 1) where Arabic numerals would heat
Intelligence
Na of positive marks No. of negative marks
Serial No. of Question Figwe 2.
Profllo of a group of xwceaful chemirh
initiative, the ability to do independent work, and about "practical" characteristics, as defined above. Such a diagram of a student could yield a graphic picture of him: his place in one of the 25 squares of the net could give, after short practice, quick information about his qualifications and the type of work and working conditions where he can put his given abilities to best use. Naturally, the "third dimension" of evaluation will be added to this after graduation, at the actual working place. However, we can expect that e.g., a 1C student can be an excellent research worker in the laboratory, but a poor leader, while I should expect, e.g., a 2A student to become the successful leader of a team, etc. Twelve years ago we made an investigation into the biography and characterization of the best-known leading chemists of Hungary. Twenty questions had to he answered in each case. Such questions were, for instance Level of professional education as reflected by the university career Ability to organize Popularity with co-workers Originality Attention to detail, precision Talent for languages etc.
poorest ~ i g w e1. Suggested clarriflcation system for evaluating student's obilily to work with others along with intelligence.
denote professional intelligence combined with the capacity for learning (roughly the classical marks), and the letters A, B, C, D, E would afford information about
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The characteristics were denoted by numbers from 1to 5 both in the positive and negative directions, and shown on a square plotting paper. The result was a profile, resembling the double-bit of a cash-box key, characterizing the most successful professional chemists that could he found (Fig. 2). Then, in a similar way, the profiles for students were made. By watching how our students have gotten along in their professional career, on the basis of an experience of ten years, we may say that the expectations suggested by these profiles seem to be remarkably correct. We think that this method is suitable to recognize the good chemical engineer, scientist, or teacher of future years at an early stage. It is notable that in 10 years nobody has shown any substantial change as compared to the profile taken at the time of his &dent years.
