Saturday Morning Schedule

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Saturday Morning Schedule
830 Proposed ACS Guidelines Carroll Auditorium
945 930 MACTLAC Business Meeting
1030 1015 Coffee Break Science Hall
1100 1045 Design a New Chemistry Curriculum Curriculum Innovation Discussion Groups C Reporting Out Science Hall 105
1200 Council Meeting Student Center 216
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Proposed Revisions to the ACS Guidelines for
Undergraduate Programs Motivation, Changes,
and Possibilities

• William F. Polik
• Hope College
• ACS Committee on Professional Training, Chair
• MACTLAC, Fall 2006

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ACS Committee on Professional Training

• ACS Bylaws
• The SOCIETY shall sponsor an activity for the
  approval of undergraduate professional programs
  in chemistry. The Committee on Professional
  Training...shall act for the Board and Council in
  the formulation and implementation of the
  approval program...
• The goals of the approval program shall be
• (a) promoting and assisting in the development of
  high standards of excellence in all aspects of
  post-secondary education and undertaking studies
  important to their maintenance
• (b) collecting and making available information
  concerning trends and developments in modern
  chemical education

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ACS Committee on Professional Training

• ACS Bylaws
• The SOCIETY shall sponsor an activity for the
  approval of undergraduate professional programs
  in chemistry. The Committee on Professional
  Training...shall act for the Board and Council in
  the formulation and implementation of the
  approval program...
• The goals of the approval program shall be
• (a) promoting and assisting in the development of
  high standards of excellence in all aspects of
  post-secondary education and undertaking studies
  important to their maintenance
• (b) collecting and making available information
  concerning trends and developments in modern
  chemical education

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Committee Members
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Surveys and Reports
Annual Report of Graduates
www.chemistry.org/education/cpt
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Surveys and Reports
www.chemistry.org/education/cpt
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Resources
www.chemistry.org/education/cpt
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Approval Program

• 634 approved programs (196 research universities,
  114 comprehensive universities, 324 baccalaureate
  colleges)
• The ACS (through CPT) approves programs the
  department chair certifies majors

• Benefits of ACS-approval
• Institution public recognition of an excellent
  program
• Department document capabilities and leverage
  resources to meet discipline-wide standards
• Faculty professional development opportunities
• Students participation in department with
  excellent capabilities ands resources external
  recognition of high quality degree
• Industry Grad Schools students and employees
  come from high quality chemistry program

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Rationale for Change

• Chemistry is changing
• Interaction with other disciplines
• More complex problems
• Techniques and technology
• Globalization

• Education is changing
• Pedagogy reflects new research in how students
  learn (e.g., inquiry-based and active learning,
  team experiences)
• Increasing student diversity (e.g., age, gender,
  ethnicity and educational background)

• Guidelines must change to maintain utility and
  relevance

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Guidelines Revision Process

• 2005 Broad call for public comment on ACS
  Guidelines and possible directions for revision
• 2006 In response to comments from community,
  CPT drafts and publicizes proposed revisions to
  the ACS Guidelines
• 2007 Informed by comments on proposed
  revisions, CPT drafts and publicizes draft of new
  ACS Guidelines
• 2008 New ACS Guidelines are released

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Goals of Current Revision

• Simplify the ACS guidelines and procedures for
  approval of chemistry programs
• Provide greater flexibility to approved
  departments for designing certified degrees
• Encourage innovation and improvement in
  curriculum and pedagogy by approved departments
• Define faculty and infrastructure attributes that
  support excellent undergraduate chemistry programs

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Overview of Proposed ACS Guidelines

• Program Organization
• Autonomous unit with control over faculty
  selection, curriculum, etc.

Program Organization Curriculum Student
Skills Pedagogy Faculty Infrastructure Evaluation

• Curriculum
• Foundation and in-depth courses
• Degree tracks (replace options)
• Laboratory experience
• Undergraduate research

• Student Skills
• Ask questions, design, interpret experiments
• Communicate orally and in writing
• Work in a team
• Work safely
• Exhibit ethical scientific conduct
• Lead and innovate

2008

• Infrastructure
• Instrumentation (NMR required)
• Computation and software
• Chemical information resources
• Physical plant and chemical safety

• Pedagogy
• Many approaches that are integrative,
  challenging, and engaging

• Evaluation
• Description of degree tracks (curriculum
  implementation)
• Exams and syllabi from defined in-depth courses
• Discussion of process skill instruction
• Description of most recent self-assessment

• Faculty
• Minimum number (4 or 5?)
• 15 contact hours maximum
• Use of adjunct faculty

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Proposed Curriculum Changes
Core and advanced course requirements will be
replaced by...

• Foundation Coursework Beyond introductory
  chemistry, five one-semester foundation courses
  that provide breadth of coverage in each of the
  five major areas of chemistry analytical,
  biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical
• In-Depth Coursework Four semester courses
  (totaling at least twelve semester credit hours)
  that further develop or integrate topics
  introduced in foundation courses
• In-depth courses have a foundation course
  pre-requisite, or contain a
• significant amount of chemistry that is
  necessary for a degree track

500 total lab hour requirement will be replaced
by...

• At least 180 hours in foundation courses, and 400
  total hours beyond introductory chemistry
• Coverage of all 5 foundation areas
• Undergraduate research producing a
  comprehensive written report
• can be counted toward in-depth laboratory hours

ACS-defined option degrees will be replaced by...

• Department-defined degree tracks a specialized
  curriculum meeting foundation, in-depth, and
  laboratory requirements and focuses on
• Chemistry, or
• A specific chemistry sub-discipline, or
• A chemistry-related interdisciplinary area

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Other Proposed Changes

• Student Skills and Pedagogy
• Curriculum should develop skills that students
  need to become successful professionals
• Ask questions and design experiments Exhibit
  teamwork
• and interpret results Work safely and
  ethically
• Communicate orally and in writing Lead and
  innovate
• Pedagogy should be integrative, engaging, and
  inclusive students should learn both chemistry
  content and skills

• Faculty and Infrastructure
• Five full-time faculty members (teaching
  expertise in 5 areas, meet contact hour limit,
  allow for professional development, limit use of
  adjunct/part-time faculty)
• Few infrastructure changes (NMR, computational
  capabilities, chemical information resources all
  required)

• Self-Evaluation
• An excellent program regularly evaluates the
  effectiveness of its curricular and pedagogical
  efforts and uses the evaluation results to
  further improve itself
• Departments will be asked to summarize their most
  recent self-evaluation and outline their plans
  for acting upon the resulting recommendations

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Summary

• Five one-semester foundation courses in five
  areas of chemistry, and four semesters (twelve
  semester credit hours) of in-depth courses
• Departments create and define degree tracks
• Students skills that prepare them to become
  professional chemists
• Regular self-evaluation of chemistry program for
  the purpose of continual improvement

2008 Flexibility Innovation
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Questions and Answers

• Comments and/or questions about proposed changes
• Curriculum
• Student Skills
• Faculty and Infrastructure
• Program Self-Evaluation
• Comments or questions about revision process
• How would your current chemistry curriculum fit
  within the proposed new ACS guidelines?
• What curricular innovations could you implement
  within the proposed new ACS guidelines?

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Saturday Morning Schedule
Design a New Chemistry Curriculum
1045 Curriculum Innovation Science Hall 105
1100 Discussion Groups C Assigned Rooms
1130 Reporting Out Science Hall 105
1200 Council Meeting Student Center 216
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What New Curriculum Innovations Could be
Supported by the Proposed ACS Guidelines?

• Small Group Discussion
• and
• Reporting Out
• MACTLAC, Fall 2006

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Thoughts on Innovation
The greatest danger for most of us is not that
our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it
is too low and we reach it.
Michelangelo The most successful people are
those who are good at Plan B. -- James
Yorke, mathematician
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Curricular Innovation ?
Current Guidelines
Proposed Guidelines
General Chemistry I and II Core Organic
Chemistry I Organic Chemistry II Analytical
Chemistry Instrumental Analysis Physical
Chemistry I Physical Chemistry II Inorganic
Chemistry Advanced Biochemistry Advanced
Elective
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A Thermodynamics Analogy
DG DH TDS
(from John Kozarich, CPT member)
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Plans of Implementation

• PLAN A
• Map current curriculum onto new guideline
  structure
• Imperfect fit but serviceable
• Hopefully a temporary solution

• PLAN B
• Revamp curriculum to reflect chemistry profession
  and improve student learning
• Will take time and stages to implement
• Ultimate goal of new guidelines

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A Paradigm Shift

• Shift curriculum responsibility from ACS to
  departments
• Redefine how chemistry is taught
• New courses and textbooks
• New course sequences, degree tracks
• Changes to general chemistry
• Can the foundations of organic and physical
  chemistry be laid down in one semester?
• Create a new vision of an ACS-certified chemist

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Lets Innovate !

• Small group discussion 30 minutes
• Form small groups in assigned rooms
• Introduce selves
• Select Time Keeper and Secretary
• What innovations could be introduced into your
  curriculum under the proposed new ACS guidelines?
• Reporting out 20 minutes
• Return to Science Hall 105
• Secretary reports one significant idea