Since the new ACS CPT guidelines have come out, our department has begun having discussions about ideas for changes in the curriculum. As part of this process, we are trying to define the skills that we think a BS-level chemistry graduate should have. We have a good start on skills that aren’t specific to a discipline (literature searching, databases, writing reports in the format of a journal article, presenting research/lab results, scientific ethics, safety, etc.) Now we’re focusing on skills (not content knowledge) that our majors should have. My charge, of course, is to develop this list for inorganic chemistry while keeping it as broad as possible. Eventually, we will incorporate these skills into an Academic Skills Inventory that we give to our seniors as part of our major's assessment.
My inorganic colleague and I have made a start on our skills list, but would be very interested in input for the community.
Students should be able to
- manipulate air-sensitive compounds on both a Schlenk line and in a glove box/bag.
- use specialized high-temperature techniques for synthesis.
- use specialized low-temperature techniques for synthesis.
- use a range of physical methods to characterize chemical compounds (NMR, IR, UV-VIS/NIR, AA, lasers, PXRD, microscopy, thermal analysis, chromatography, CD, MS, nuclear). (We don’t expect students to master all of these skills, but they should ‘master’ a few and be experienced with most.)
- use computer-based structure visualization tools to view molecules (and crystal packing).
- determine the appropriate characterization techniques for different classes of inorganic materials.
- determine the appropriate separation/isolation techniques for different classes of inorganic materials.
What do you think your students should be able to do that isn’t on this list?
We (Hope College Chem Dept) are in the middle of a pretty extensive departmental curriculum review. Each subdiscipline (plus gen chem) was asked to prepare a list of incoming expectations, professional competency goals (sometimes called "skills"), lecture content, and lab content.
The inorganic list was developed by me, Mike Silver, and Jeff Johnson. It goes beyond Barb's request about the lab, but it seemed like a good time to share. You can view the list here: http://ionicblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/inorganic-chemistry-student-learn…
In reply to Hope's curriculum review by Joanne Stewart / Hope College
I was wondering how much inorganic chemistry you require your students to take? Do these learning goals apply to a one semester lecture course and lab or a two semester lecture course and lab? These are really helpful! Thanks for posting them!
In reply to How much inorganic chemistry is required in the Hope curriculum? by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University
Hi Barb. We offer one semester of inorganic chemistry that has a real mix of students in it. A few have had P Chem, but most have not.
We cover most of the learning goals in my list, with some (hopefully) obvious exceptions. We don't do term symbols or cover all the advanced spectroscopy techniques. And we don't do much with reactivity of transition metal complexes. We do introduce symmetry, point groups, and MO theory, sort of at the Miessler and Tarr level.
We have some advanced courses that offer some of the advanced topics, but they're blended courses. For example, organometallic chemistry (and this is where they get some of the reactivity) is covered in an advanced course that focuses on organic reaction mechanisms and advanced synthesis. A more thorough treatment of group theory and some advanced NMR are covered in upper level physical chemistry labs.
Say, Joanne, the link you included earlier (over 4 years ago now) isn't working. Are your department's inorganic goals still listed somewhere on the internet?
Thanks!
You would think it should be easy for me to put my hands on those, but....
I'm sure they must be in the department's shared drive somewhere. I'll dig around.