General Chemistry Curriculum Research Articles

Progress in Practice: The Synergy Derived From Knowing Pedagogy as Well as Chemistry

What is the value that comes from consciously and explicitly linking what we know about chemistry with what we do in the classroom? It is tempting to dismiss this question because we are uncomfortable with the implication that there are times when what we do in the classroom is not informed by our personal understanding of chemistry. Yet instructors of introductory chemistry courses often lack the personal understanding, especially the kind that comes from laboratory experience, for significant parts of the course. An experienced general chemistry instructor, for example, probably understands the practical expectations of teaching this subject better than anyone who has recently graduated with a Ph.D. in physical or inorganic chemistry. Although the merits of this situation are worth reflecting on at another time, a reasonable operational assumption is that a substantial portion of the introductory program is defined by its own existence rather than as an identifiable area of specialization. The general chemistry curriculum is flexible to the degree that it can accommodate a variety of backgrounds in its instructors, yet it is constrained by the historical inertia that has defined it. To a lesser yet still significant extent, beginning instructors of organic chemistry face the same problem when their understanding of more specialized topics (such as the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, transition metal organometallics, carbohydrate and peptide chemistry) is limited by their inexperience in those areas. Organic chemists might have only studied these topics as a part of their own introductory or intermediate instruction, and the textbook in use could be their primary source of information. Consequently, introductory chemistry instruction is filled with its own “urban myths”, or perhaps they are parables [1] passed down from author to author, about chemical phenomena that may or may not stand up to the scrutiny of contemporary understanding. Sometimes this is by design; for instance, demonstrating some general features about macroscopic properties can be done by using simplifications like the ideal gas assumptions or with the use of concentration instead of activity. Intentional simplifications that use less sophisticated models to explain phenomena at an adequate level of complexity are commonplace (in fact, this is not a bad interpretation of Occam’s Razor as it applies to science in general). This may be analogous to the way our colleagues in physics begin college instruction with Newtonian mechanics, or the way chemists can successfully use valence bond models for molecular structure to do a prodigious amount of chemistry without ever invoking a Hamiltonian operator. Problems can arise, however, whenever an instructor’s depth of understanding of a subject is only marginally different than the simplified version of it. Agassi [2] offers a sobering view on the way some writers of introductory textbooks “mislead the innocent reader” (implying that unwary instructors will sometimes mislead learners). He laments that individuals who ultimately choose science do so in spite of their formal education and he refers to them as “those who survive the injury of the science textbook.”

PKw Is Almost Never 14.0: Contribution from the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum

The value of -log([H+][OH-]) is not 14.00 at 25 oC in any circumstance where a student is likely to need it. If calculations are taught that use Kw then the correct value should be used, and should preferably be the Bronsted value aH+[OH-]. Values of pKw under both definitions, have been calculated from published data for various ionic strengths, temperatures, and pressures and tabulated. Calculations of pH are even then reliable only in the first decimal and approximate in the second. Texts deceive their readers when they quote 14.00 and give answers to two decimals. The value of such calculations in first year chemistry is questionable. Some suggestions are offered for teaching qualitative understanding of autoprotolysis. Plots of pKw against temperature or against the ionic strength of the solution pass through a minimum. pKw decreases with increasing pressure.

The Forum: New Directions for General Chemistry: Recommendations of the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum

Findings and recommendations of the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum of the ACS regarding reform in the general chemistry curriculum.

Reforms in the general chemistry curriculum

Refocusing the General Chemistry Curriculum. Interest in general chemistry reform has led to the formation of a task force.

Why should they know that?

Refocusing the General Chemistry Curriculum. The present investigation into general chemistry curriculum seeks objective criteria on which to construct an introductory chemistry curriculum, by cons...

Why changing the curriculum may not be enough

Refocusing the General Chemistry Curriculum. Changing the curriculum - the topics being taught - is not enough to bring about meaningful change in science education, we also need to rethink the way the curriculum is delivered.

General chemistry course content

Refocusing the General Chemistry Curriculum. The world has changed but general chemistry has not, except to add more topics.

Integrating research instrumentation with the general chemistry curriculum. Part I: Mass spectrometry

three-part exercise entitled A Glimpse of Mass Spectrometry was designed for students enrolled in the third quarter of a one-year, nonmajor course that surveyed organic and biological chemistry.

Are we teaching the right things in general chemistry?

This paper focuses on a study executed to determine which topics are deemed important for the general chemistry curriculum by researchers at the forefront of their fields.

Educators Propose Refocusing General Chemistry Curriculum

Educators Propose Refocusing General Chemistry Curriculum

Polymer chemistry in high school

Important information for a high school teacher considering the addition of polymer chemistry to the secondary general chemistry curriculum.

Electrochemistry in the general chemistry curriculum

Students in introductory chemistry courses at large universities do not develop sufficient understanding of electrochemical phenomenon. From State-of-the-Art Symposium: Electrochemistry, ACS meeting, Kansas City, 1982.

The definition of heat

126. While the topics of energetics have received increasing attention in the general chemistry curriculum in recent years, textbooks do not provide students with comprehensive definitions of heat.

Geology as a part of the general college chemistry course

The author identifies areas in the general chemistry curriculum where geology might play a greater role than it does currently.