The role and structure of physical chemistry in the undergraduate curriculum

Abstract

Like the other subjects in the science curriculum, the physical chemistry course is beset by a plethora of new findings, ideas, and areas of investigation which could, and in some cases should, be included in the course of study. However, this expansion of the breadth of the subject matter can lead to a superficial survey course which provides students with few skills and little insight which can be applied to other subjects. Abolition of the physical chemistry course and integration of its conceptual material with descriptive chemistry is one solution that has been offered for this problem. A preferable procedure is to examine carefully the meaning and use of physical chemistry, and accordingly to restructure the course so that it provides students with an introduction to and training in the use of those concepts and techniques which are of widest applicability and most lasting value. I am addressing the problem of the role, position and nature of the instruction in physical chemistry in the undergraduate curriculum. Naturally, I would not be doing this unless I thought that something is now wrong, or at the very least that we are capable of much more effective instruction than we now provide. In the following, I shall state what I feel the problems are, then discuss some possible solutions, and attempt to predict their consequences. Like the other subjects in the science curriculum, physical chemistry is becoming almost overwhelmed by new experimental findings and ideas. Many of these are more than just interesting, they are so general and important that each chemistry student should have a basic understanding of them. What has been the result of this information explosion? First, the textbooks have grown in length, and the pace of instruction has increased. Also, subjects of lesser current interest or generality have been discarded entirely, or appear in texts and are rarely taught. A number of topics such as ionic equilibria, ideal gas laws, and elementary electrochemistry, which were prominent in texts widely used as recently as 1955, have been relegated t€ the introductory general chemistry course. In still other instances, modern ideas have led to a generality and unity of presentation which has been accompanied by a most welcome saving in instructional time and, for the fortunate, a deeper understanding of the subject. However, I feel that despite these ameliorations, the overall result of the inclusion of a vastly increasing number of topics has been to make physical chemistry a shallow survey course. Many sophisticated ideas are presented so superficially that the only thing the student carries away is a feeling that he has heard of these