An
elective course, Toward the Greening of Our Minds: Green and Sustainable
Chemistry, has been offered at Washington College since 2005. This
new course without laboratory is designed for chemistry and biology
majors and minors who have previously taken two semesters of general
chemistry and organic chemistry. Due to the popularity of the course,
the enrollment nearly doubled since 2005. Specific changes needed
to be implemented to respond to students’ feedback and needs
but also to account for the expansion of the field of green chemistry.
The original goals associated with this course are still incorporated
yet are now addressed differently to provide students with up-to-date,
quantitative, and skillful knowledge of green chemistry applications
and metrics. The ultimate goal is for students to use their critical
thinking skills to produce an innovation proposal and to become responsible
citizens of the 21st century.