P1. NEW TRENDS IN LEARNING STRUCTURES IN EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENCOURAGING CRITICAL THINKING IN CHEMISTRY STUDENTS

Gabriel Pinto, Grupo de Innovación Educativa de Didáctica de la Química, ETS de Ingenieros Industriales (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid). gabriel.pinto@upm.es

In June 1999, in Bologna (Italy), 29 ministers of higher education signed the known as “Bologna Declaration.” Forty five European countries are now involved in the “Bologna Process,” which has the ultimate goal of establishing, by 2010, an open European Higher Education Area in which students and staff can move with ease and have fair recognition of their qualifications. In this context, the priority is the quality assurance and the harmonization of degree system throughout the participating countries. New degrees will have a credit structure based on ECTS, the European Credit Transfer System . Among other considerations, the ECTS involves a student-centered teaching. In the first part of this discussion, I will explain the goals and steps involved in the Bologna Process and, in the second part, I will give a short view of how analogies, questions, experiments and exercises, developed from real-world applications, can be used for motivating students' interest in Chemistry learning within the philosophy of the new trends in University European Education.

P2. “Less is More:” The 1:2:1 Curriculum at Indiana University

Jill K. Robinson (jirobins@indiana.edu), Kate Reck, Martha G. Oakley, Indiana University, Department of Chemistry, 800 E. Kirkwood, Bloomington, IN 47401

Indiana University has recently undertaken a curriculum reform project in order to modernize the program and recruit students into the chemistry major. As part of this reform, we chose to adopt a 1:2:1; general, organic, and intermediate organic sequence in order to create a fast-track to higher level courses. In this model, “less” general chemistry is required in the beginning, but a “more” interesting and advanced intermediate inorganic course follows the organic sequence. A one semester, 5-credit integrated laboratory-lecture course in general chemistry has been developed in order to prepare students for direct entry into the organic chemistry sequence. The course deviates from the order of most traditional chemistry texts in that an “Atoms First” approach is utilized. Organic and biochemical examples are emphasized and laboratory experiments are closely correlated with concepts from the lecture portion of the course. The reasons for curriculum reform, contents of the course, details of implementation, and assessment of student retention and recruiting will be discussed. Student performance in organic chemistry and topics covered in the 4 th semester intermediate inorganic course will also be presented.

THE PREPARATION OF CHEMISTRY TEACHERS AT HIGH SCHOOL AND FRESHMEN LEVEL IN A FRAMEWORK OF ACTIVITY-BASED TEACHING AND LEARNING

Bell Jerry, ACS (j_bell@acs.org) , Mueller G., UNAM; M.Llano, UNAM; Miller B., ACS

Our paper describes the fundamentals of and experiences from a series of workshops on activity-based teaching and learning that have been presented in Latin America and the USA. The approach is research-based scientific teaching through experimentation by learners, rather than only traditional class lectures. The content framework is built on the core concepts upon which chemistry is founded. The emphasis is on three levels of description of phenomena:

• laboratory (observable behavior of matter)

• molecular (atomic/molecular interpretation of the observations)

• symbolic (translation of molecular understanding to the symbolic language of chemistry)

The workshop methodology, which parallels what we expect will be incorporated into participating teachers' classrooms, includes:

• introducing a concept by a short experiment designed to be carried out in small groups.

• discussion among students (participants) and teacher (presenter) of the observations and development of molecular-level hypotheses/interpretations.

• using guided-reasoning exercises/worksheets to structure interpretations and problem solving.

• encouraging students to apply their understanding to other situations.

Changing teachers' minds about learning is a crucial step in the process of getting them to use these methods in their own teaching.

First experiences teaching General, Organic, Biological (GOB) Chemistry lecture on-line.

James F. Kirby, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT 06518.

Getting a media rich on-line course set up and "instructing" the course will be discussed. Troubles faced and changes anticipated in a quantitative course, like General Chemistry, will be presented. Advantages to qualitative courses, like the Organic/ Biochemistry portion of the course, will be noted. Comparisons to teaching the "on site" course will be made. The experiences discussed are based on a first time lecturing in the Summer, 2006 sessions and anticipated changes for Summer, 2007.

TO TEACH AND LEARN CHEMISTRY IS VITAL TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. WHAT WE ARE DOING IN THIS SENSE IN MEXICO?

Adela Castillejos Salazar. Facultad de Química. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

adelac@servidor.unam.mx

During more than 33 years, the author has been working as chemistry teacher in the School of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a preeminent university of Iberoamerica. For 14 years during this time, she also taught general chemistry at the high school level. She has also done significant outreach with teachers at all educational levels, focusing on improving and coordinating courses to prepare science teachers of different levels. Adela's current project includes 8 colleagues who are working together to write what she describes as a “revolutionary” high school chemistry text. In this paper, Adela discusses the textbook, what makes it so different, and the nature of first-year chemistry in colleges and high schools in Mexico.

First Year Chemistry in two countries oceans apart: United States of America and India

Supriya Sihi, Chemistry, Houston Community College, Houston, Texas, USA

supriya.sihi@hccs.edu

Chemistry with its countless contributions in our daily lives is an important area to focus in this era of science and technology. It is a discipline that develops around and reflects social, economic, and technological changes. First-year chemistry serves as the introduction to knowledge, techniques and scientific critical thinking skills for students pursuing careers in chemistry related fields. Educators in the business of this entry level chemistry face tough challenges in the years to come in order to maintain competitiveness among the talented students worldwide.

Technology has made it a very small world. Exchange of ideas and successful collaborations between educators around the world help to develop best teaching practices.The author, from first-hand experience, explores the methodology for first year chemistry education in the U.S. and in India, two major players in the advancement of science and technology. Similarities and differences in these two systems may help academic institutions decide what to adopt and what to avoid in a first-year chemistry classroom and develop a curriculum satisfying socio-economic need of the community with resources available.