An Integrated Professional and Transferable Skills Course for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

Ashraf, S. Salman; Marzouk, Sayed A.M.; Shehadi, Ihsan A.; Murphy, Brian

doi:10.1021/ed100275y

Cited by 51 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Although this gap in transferable skills has been well documented for many years, researchers find that disparities continue to exist between targeted student competencies in the classroom environment and the full set of actual skills needed in technical professions. As an illustration, authors of a study focused on outcomes for undergraduate chemistry students note that ''Some employers find chemistry graduates lacking written-and oral-communication skills, critical-thinking skills, group-work skills, as well as the ability to efficiently analyze data and retrieve chemical information'' (Ashraf et al, 2011). Selfratings of proficiencies reveal that the ''ability to effectively work in a team'' is a poorly rated skill in the college setting by students who have not yet started their careers (Baytiyeh, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some institutions endeavor to answer this question by developing a new course specifically focused on generic or transferable skills rather than on chemical content knowledge (Ashraf et al, 2011). Most chemistry departments, on the other hand, prefer to keep all courses that count towards the major focused primarily on technical skills and content knowledge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

Canelas

Hill

Novicki

2017

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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Science and engineering educators and employers agree that students should graduate from college with expertise in their major subject area as well as the skills and competencies necessary for productive participation in diverse work environments. These competencies include problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration, among others. Using a pseudo-experimental design, and employing a variety of data from exam scores, course evaluations, and student assessment of learning gains (SALG) surveys of key competencies, we compared the development of both chemistry content knowledge and transferable or generic skills among students enrolled in two types of large classes: a lecture-based format versus an interactive, constructive, cooperative learning (flipped classroom) format. Controlling for instructor, as well as laboratory and recitation content, students enrolled in the cooperative learning format reported higher learning gains than the control group in essential transferable skills and competency areas at the end of the term, and more growth in these areas over the course of the term. As a result of their work in the class,

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

Canelas

Hill

Novicki

2017

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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“…Employers look for chemistry graduates to be skilled in critical thinking, able to develop innovative ideas, have experience in oral and written communication, and able to work collaboratively as a team; all skills that can be gained through participation in professional service. 12 A look at job advertisements shows that these skills are included in descriptions as desirable qualities for future employees. 13 In the sciences, the majority of professional service experiences come through environmental and agriculture courses.…”

Section: ■ Undergraduate Participation In Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…9,14 Traditionally, however, chemistry course emphasis is placed on theoretical and practical knowledge, such as how to determine an electron configuration or how to perform a specific lab procedure, rather than on transferable job skills, such as communication, teamwork, and cooperation. 12,13 An event, Halloween Science Night (HSN), which we have developed at our institution, has provided a rare case in which professional service has been incorporated into a general chemistry laboratory course. It is different than any of the previously described types of service as it provides a unique learning opportunity for students, specifically because the content of a course and corresponding service event is controlled by the college students themselves.…”

Section: ■ Undergraduate Participation In Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating Professional Service as a Component of General Chemistry Laboratory by Demonstrating Chemistry to Elementary Students

Theall

Bond

2013

J. Chem. Educ.

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Formalized participation in professional service is not often part of the college experience, especially for first-year students in chemistry courses. When service opportunities are offered, they are most often through elective credit, upper-level courses, extracurricular clubs, and the rare service-learning courses. We have successfully incorporated a large science service-learning opportunity into the general chemistry laboratory that provides multidisciplinary educational experiences for children and the community. The experience for the college students involves several weeks of preparation for a two-week laboratory module and participation in the public event on the university campus. College students involved in the second year of the event were surveyed to determine the impact of formalized participation in professional service on their attitude toward science and participation in future professional service events. Highly positive responses on the surveys and public interest in the event suggest continuing and expanding on the science offerings in our geographic location.

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“…In fact, we have used this experiment while teaching the module on data acquisition and manipulation in our 'Professional and Transferable Skills for Chemists' course at UAEU. Details of this course have been previously published elsewhere (Ashraf et al 2011), but in summary this course is a required course for our chemistry and biochemistry BSc students. This is a laptop-based course designed to teach various transferable skills, including importing data from instruments, data manipulation, spreadsheet use, critical thinking, chemical information retrieval, group work and presentation skills.…”

Section: Evaluation and Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

A hands-on approach to teaching environmental awareness and pollutant remediation to undergraduate chemistry students

Ashraf

Rauf

Abdullah

2012

Research in Science & Technological Education

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Background: One of the unfortunate side effects of the industrial revolution has been the constant assault of the environment with various forms of pollution. Lately, this issue has taken a more critical dimension as prospects of global climate change and irreversible ecosystem damage are becoming a reality. Purpose: College graduates (especially chemists), should therefore not only be aware of these issues but also be taught how chemistry can help reduce environmental pollution. Furthermore, the role and importance of chemistry in sustainable development and solving environmental problems needs to be highlighted. Programme/intervention description: To this effect, we have designed a simple undergraduate experiment that is based on the green chemistry approach of using photolytic oxidation to degrade a model organic pollutant. This approach used UV light and hydrogen peroxide to produce reactive hydroxyl radicals, which subsequently break down and degrade Acridine Orange (model pollutant). The dye degradation was monitored spectrophotometrically and the apparent rate of decolouration was found to be first order. Possible radical initiated mechanisms that may be involved in this remediation experiment have been used to explain the observed dye decolouration. Sample: To test the usefulness of this newly developed experiment, we incorporated it as a module into a second year 'Professional skills' chemistry course with an enrollment of six female students. Anonymous survey of the students after the completion of the module was very positive and indicated that objectives of the experiment were satisfactorily achieved. Results: We believe this experiment not only raises students' awareness about green chemistry and environmental issues, but also teaches them valuable experimental skills such as experimental design, data manipulation and basic kinetics. Survey of students who were taught this unit in a second year course was very positive and supported the usefulness of this unit for chemistry students. Conclusions: In summary, we describe here an undergraduate chemistry experiments that was found to be very effective in teaching students about the hazards of environmental pollution and the role of green chemistry in solving 'real-life' problems, as well as chemical kinetics, data acquisition and manipulation.

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An Integrated Professional and Transferable Skills Course for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

Cited by 51 publications

References 11 publications

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

Incorporating Professional Service as a Component of General Chemistry Laboratory by Demonstrating Chemistry to Elementary Students

A hands-on approach to teaching environmental awareness and pollutant remediation to undergraduate chemistry students

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