Foundation Coursework in Undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry: Results from a National Survey of Inorganic Chemistry Faculty

Abstract

A national survey of inorganic chemists explored the self-reported topics covered in foundation-level courses in inorganic chemistry at the postsecondary level; the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training defines a foundation course as one at the conclusion of which, "a student should have mastered the vocabulary, concepts, and skills required to pursue in-depth study in that area." Anecdotal evidence suggested that more than one type of Inorganic Chemistry Foundation course was offered in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Cluster analysis confirmed this evidence, revealing four distinct foundation courses, each with unique profiles of topics covered. Faculty reported changes in content coverage over the past five years that mirror the evolving foci of inorganic chemistry research. These results potentially complicate how graduate programs evaluate incoming students' understanding of inorganic chemistry and the design of national assessments of undergraduate inorganic chemistry courses.

Covalent d-Block Organometallics: Teaching Lewis Structures and sd/sd2 Hybridization Gives Students Additional Explanations and Powerful Predictive Tools

“…Doing the same for transition metal complexes relieves the unfounded but common fear that bonding in organometallic complexes may be difficult beyond comprehension. The 2015 survey of in-depth courses has noted a consistent trend, across all three types of in-depth courses, to increase content in organometallic chemistry and to increase content related to covalent bonding and MO theory 46. Providing a new way to understand covalent bonding in organometallic complexes is definitely consistent with the larger trend.…”

“…Selected Topics 46. Considering the topics taught by the author in 2nd and 3rd year (syllabus excerpts shown in the Supporting Information), his 2nd year course can be classified as Foundation Survey: Fundamentals, and his 3 rd year course as In-depth Survey: Comprehensive.…”

A Wiki-Based Group Project in an Inorganic Chemistry Foundation Course

“…While the guidelines for inorganic chemistry curricula include comprehensive lists of suggested topics, they are not prescriptive. Four different types of foundation inorganic chemistry courses that are currently taught in the U.S. were identified through a survey of inorganic chemistry professors: 16 Descriptive Chemistry, Fundamentals and Selected Topics, Foundation Survey: Fundamentals, and Foundation Survey: Comprehensive. A large majority of survey respondents reported teaching electronic structure of atoms and molecules, covalent bonding, and coordination chemistry; their curricula varied by which additional topics or fundamental inorganic chemistry concepts were covered, and to what extent.…”

“…This approach probably falls into the Fundamentals and Selected Topics category of foundation inorganic courses. 16 The course has been well-received by students and attracted uncertified chemistry majors and minors to enroll in the course as an elective.…”

Utilizing Cluster Analysis of Close-Ended Survey Responses to Select Participants for Qualitative Data Collection

“…This technique has been used within other disciplines to group different types of data and entities of systems, such as chemicals (Maccuish & Maccuish, 2014), manufacturing decisions (Lorentz, Hilmola, Malmsten, & Srai, 2016), or planets (Jiang, Yeh, Hung, & Yang, 2006), based on a series of factors or variables. In engineering education, cluster analysis has been used to group participants who have similar attributes such as epistemic beliefs (Faber, Vargas, & Benson, n.d.), activities within a learning environment (Antonenko, Toy, & Niederhauser, 2012;Galloway & Bretz, 2015a, 2015b, relative risk of attrition (Chan & Bauer, 2014), or who exhibit certain behaviors in courses (Karabenick, 2003;Raker et al, 2015;Shell & Soh, 2013;Stewart, Miller, Audo, & Stewart, 2012). Cluster analysis can help researchers who are using a mixed methods approach select participants for interviews when a variation of participant attributes or perspectives is desired.…”