Fisk University

I. Wesley Elliott Nashville, TN 37208

To improve the "art of teaching chemistry" and espe- cially to increase the role of students in the learning of chemistry, the chemistry faculty has elected to emphasize three activities:

(1) improving chemistry problem-solving skills, (2) reinvigorating laboratory work, and (3) supporting student-directed programs.

(1) The faculty will attempt to identify the kinds of problems students encounter, to design an early test to measure and rank the students' abilities, to devise with the h e l ~ of counselors and Deer tutors a su~~ lemen ta l pro- . . gram tb overcome the deiciencies, and later to evaliate these efforts through grade performance records and a post test stressing the elements worked on.

(2) To overcome attitudes that treat chemistni lab as either a bore or an irrelevancy, we shall seek new ap- proaches to reconnect laboratory exercises and results with knowledge fostered in lecture sessions. Faculty will design a laboratory program mixing a series of background experiments on basic techniques and measurements with a larger team project on either a theoretical topic or a so- cially relevant problem. Students will participate in the or- ganization of the class into teams, the assignment of ef- forts. and final oral re~or ts of each team. In addition to , ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ---- ~~ ~

grading student work i i laboratory, the faculty will assess the attitude of the student to these new laboratorv ex~eri- - . ments and evaluate their success by a questionnaire and a limited number of structured interviews with students at the end of the term.

(3) A kev element of the Fisk-F'tizer Dromams is a Fisk ch&istryry~lurnni Visitation Program in which students, through their own Black Chemists Organization (Fisk chap;er of NOBCChE), will serve asuhosts, inviting alumni chemists back to the campus for two-day visits. The eligible alumni will be Black chemists who have earned the PhD after leaving Fisk, and we shall encourage bringing in both younger and older alumni to expose stu- dents to a variety of experiences in graduate study, re- search, and professional opportunities. Other student ac- tivities, from on-campus poster presentations that include other science departments to attending and participating in professional meetings away from Fisk, will be supported through the Pfizer grant.

Johnson C. Smith University

Benjamin A. Dias Charlotte, NC 28216

Johnson C. Smith University's Chemistry Department proposes to develop a 25-hour-long minicourse in problem- solving that will be taught to students enrolled in general chemistry it is our opinion that students who take the gen- eral chemistrv course encounter breakdowns when thev are confronted with problem-solving exercises. More spe- cificallv thev find it difficult to a ~ ~ l v the mathematics thev " " . & "

have learned to the science they are doing. In order to ad- dress this problem, we plan to do the following:

(1) Develop a minicourse in problem-solving with the assistance of a member of the Mathematics Department who teaches the math course containing most, if not all, of the math concepts the students encounter in general chemistry. The course will be team taught. The math in- structor introduces the concept, then develops and works

problems in the manner in which it is taught in the math class. The chemistry instructor writes and solves chemis- try problems basedon the same concept. Both the math and chemistry problems involve the same expression, set- up, manipulation, and eventual solution. In doing so, we hope to take the student to the "boundary" where mathe- matics meets chemistry so that he or she will be able to solve problems in general chemistry. A bank of practice ~roblems will be develo~ed for further student ~ractice as well. Instruction will bebone in the "Writing an; Speaking Across the Curriculum" format. thus em~hasizins! the con- - nection between communication and problem-solving skills.

(2) In order to provide tutorial, practice in problem solv- ing. and studenbcentered leamine. we also DroDose to de- -. -. . . velop computer-assisted and computer-managed software materials. These materials will be keyed to the bank of practice problems developed in the course and also to the methods used to solve the ~roblems in class. The tutorial package allows the studeni to get drill and practice and receive immediate feedback to responses. In addition, the software will be used to monitor sthdents'use of time, gen- erate exam permits, and score responses. Other software materials will be acquired that will give students a broader variety of problems for practice purposes.

Mount Holyoke College

Kevin L. Prime and Kenneth L. Willlamson South Hadley, MA01075

The develo~ment of microscale laboratorv ex~erimenta- tion and receh dramatic improvements h t<e perform- ance of computers and computational chemistry software have led us to revise the traditional approach to learning introductory chemistry. The different modes of chemical learning-classroom, laboratory, and computation-are now usually taught at different times in different places. We first will design and construct chemical workstations that allow all three modes of learning to occur at the same place and time and then develop new introductory chemistry courses that take full advantage of these intemated work- - - places.

We will construct desks. a~~roximatelv 1.5 m wide and 0.7 m deep, designed to a&o&modate one seated student. We will equip each desk with the following features:

(1) a downdrat3 hood approximately 25 em in diameter, eav- ered with a wire grid for supporting equipment;

(2) a source of vacuum; (3) a source of electricity; (4) a personal computer with network access and a data ae-

auisition card: ( 5 ) a ,et uf rnirrosralr Inhorntory nppnrarus; and 16, a wry mall container of reagents needed for the experr-

ment the student is working on.

Using these workstations, general chemistry can be taught either as a self-paced discovery coursetaking ad- vantage of interactive computer software on the personal com~uter-or as a more traditional lecture course. In either case, students will have immediate recourse to ex- perimental apparatus or chemical computations that will help to illustrate or to introduce material discussed in the "classroom" part of the course. We expect normal experi- mentation to be carried out at the chemical workstation, either on the surface or directlv above the downdraft hood as conditions require. (The cokputer will be mounted in such a way that spills and splashes are not a risk to the equipment.) In addition, by attaching sensors, e.g. ther- mistors and pH electrodes, to the computer's data-acquisi-

Volume 71 Number 11 November 1994 927