|
|
Newsletter Volume 1 |
Fall 1996 |
Reforms in the Chemistry Curriculum
Jim BirkDepartment of Chemistry
Arizona State University
|
|
|
Newsletter Volume 1 |
Fall 1996 |
ACEPT is supporting improvements in the introductory courses in chemistry taken by pre-service teachers and science majors. The reforms that we made initially in CHM-113, fall into five categories. These changes were tested and refined with a pilot section of 24 students during Spring 1996 and further tested and scaled up with 72 students during Summer 1996.
REU (Research Experience for the Undergraduate) student Denise Seton uses a spectroscope to measure the wavelengths of different light sources.
Molecular Explanations
Material is being developed to change the focus of the class to developing a molecular-level understanding of chemical phenomena from a more algorithmic-based approach of mathematical descriptions. Discussions with other faculty in the Department of Chemistry have been ongoing before and during the period of the grant. Materials have been developed to use molecular modeling in the following topics: chemical reactions, composition of chemical compounds, structure of compounds, structure of molecules, and bonding in molecules. Materials for other topics are still being developed.
Multimedia Presentations
Considerable effort has been devoted to this area, especially in support of a shift to a molecular approach to the course. These efforts have been both in the gathering and production of multimedia materials and in their class-testing. Presentation equipment was purchased with University funding and is now available for use in both our large lecture halls and in smaller classrooms. The equipment consists of a Proxima multisync projector, a videodisc player, a VCR, and a PowerMac with DOS card. Existing visualization materials in the form of videodiscs, video tapes, computer software, and CD-ROM products have been obtained and evaluated. Additional materials are being purchased with funds from a grant from the Dean's Quality of Instruction Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences. We are creating a catalog of these materials for dissemination to our faculty. We are also setting up a faculty review center, with equipment to be used to review materials, and a lending library of the materials, so the multimedia materials can be incorporated into lectures. In addition, digitized images have been accumulated, from the Birk, Chemistry textbook, from Internet sources, and from local production, for display with the Houghton-Mifflin Electronic Lecture Manager or with Microsoft PowerPoint. We have been producing numerous images of molecules for classroom display for discussions related to molecular structure and reactivity. These molecules have also been made available for home use by students in the course. We have also begun producing computer programs that animate molecular-level phenomena. Several of these are being used this semester and others will be completed in time for use next semester. Related to this is the Dynamic Visualization in Chemistry project, which was recently funded by NSF. This project will incorporate electron microscopy images in video form to illustrate the molecular nature of chemical reactions and those images will be used extensively in the ACEPT project. Finally, we have been discussing possible multimedia projects to support a molecular approach to chemistry as part of a Houghton-Mifflin textbook project; those multimedia materials will also be used in the ACEPT project before they become generally available to the public. All these materials are being assembled into PowerPoint presentations that will be made available to other faculty for use in their sections of CHM 113. The possibility of publishing these presentation materials is also being explored with several publishers.
Substitute Exploration for Algorithmic Problem Solving
We expect to change the focus of the quantitative portion of the course to an understanding of the chemical behavior that allows students to carry out specific calculations from one of just manipulating numbers. We are using spreadsheet templates to explore the effects of making changes in problem set-up and to remove the tedium from numerical problem solving. Templates for all the major problem-solving topics for CHM-113 have been completed and templates for about half of the second-semester course, CHM-115 have also been designed.
Cooperative Learning
Because we know that lecture is relatively ineffective, we are replacing lectures with various types of cooperative learning exercises. A variety of techniques is being tested during the pilot of CHM-113 to see which are most effective. In most class sessions, no more than about 15 minutes of a 50 minute class period is devoted to "lecture", and the bulk of that time is used for multimedia presentations that can initiate small group discussions.
For an interesting theory on what causes the seasons check with Mark Izold, Rio Salado CC, Steve Reynolds and Tony Lawson, ASU, Steve Semken, Navajo CC, Chula Eslamieh, ACEPT Program Coordinator, Sr., and NSF ACEPT teaching scholar Debbie Thieler.
Discovery Labs
New laboratory experiments are being introduced that are student-directed using cooperative groups, in the nature of learning cycles that we previously used to develop a new high school chemistry course. The emphasis is on the solving of chemical problems, and many of the experiments can be carried out with Calculator/Computer-Based Lab probes. The new experiments are being invented as a result of discussions with chemistry faculty, chemistry graduate assistants, and chemistry faculty at Maricopa Community Colleges. Some of these experiments are already being adopted in other ASU courses, such as CHM- 114: General Chemistry for Engineers.
Next Article
Previous Article
Volume 1 Contents
| ACEPT Home | Newsletter Home | Help | Search |
| Frames | No Frames |