Chemistry Domesticated: An Alternative Curriculum for the Two-Semester Introductory College Chemistry Course

各机构和化学教育工作者呼吁对高校的普通化学课程进行重大改革。人们经常听到要求化学与学生的日常生活相关的呼声。这个名为“化学驯化”的项目，对普通化学教材的组织方式和向学生展示的方式进行了彻底的改变，同时保留了许多为学生今后的化学和其他科学课程做准备的材料。在某一特定章节中，化学主题的选择不是基于化学家对世界的看法，而是基于理解学生所熟悉的材料和活动所必需的化学。章节的标题有土壤和肥料、血液、洗衣房和冰淇淋。22章的主题被选择为一般化学中广泛的主题提供了基础。这些章节是由相邻章节中讨论的化学主题联系起来的，比如碳酸钙的化学在软水和硬水章节（作为水垢）和鸡蛋章节（作为蛋壳的主要成分）中都很重要。科学教育文献中已经发表了许多适当的实验和示范，并正在《化学驯化》中加以应用。拟议的课程不是为了取代目前的普通化学课程，而是为受到攻击的课程提供一种替代方案。项目计划要求一年的发展，一年的实施和修改，一年的评估。* * * y

9354642 Cornelius Agencies and chemical educators are calling for major changes in the curriculum for general chemistry at colleges and universities. A call is frequently heard for chemistry to be relevant to the everyday lives of students. This project, Chemistry Domesticated, is providing a radical change in how the material in general chemistry is organized and how it is presented to students, while leaving intact much of the material which must prepare students for further courses in chemistry and other sciences. The chemical topics in a particular chapter are being chosen on the basis not of the chemist's view of the world, but of what chemistry is necessary for the understanding of materials and activities familiar to students. Chapters have titles such as Soil and Fertilizer, Blood, The Laundry Room, and Ice Cream. The subjects for the 22 chapters are being chosen to provide a foundation for a broad range of topics in general chemistry. The chapters are linked by chemical topics discussed in adjacent chapters, such as the chemistry of calcium carbonate being important in both the chapter on Hard and Soft Water (as scale) and the chapter on Eggs (as the major component in egg shell). Numerous appropriate experiments and demonstrations have already been published in the science education literature, and they are being put to work in Chemistry Domesticated. The proposed curriculum is intended not to displace the current general chemistry curriculum, but to provide an alternative to the curriculum that is under attack. The project plans call for a year of development, a year of implementation and modification, and a year of evaluation. ***y