A Workshop Chemistry Curriculum

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The City College Consortium, which includes ten senior and community colleges at the City University of New York, and the Universities of Pittsburgh, Pennsyslvania, and Rochester, is developing and applying widely a new model of teaching. This model, called Workshop Chemistry, introduces participation and mentorship by recent completers of the course. Small group, student-led workshops are integral to the course structure. Each week two workshops of an hour each complement the lecture and laboratory components. The workshop model provides a collaborative learning experience that increases student involvement and provides a new role for students as mentors. In Workshop Chemistry, students learn the problem solving, communication, and teamwork skills crucial for success in the workplace while learning chemistry more effectively. Working together with the faculty, students become an active part of the community of the department. A prototype workshop model has been developed at City College in a general chemistry course for science and engineering majors, and is being expanded and refined for a broad range of courses including preparatory chemistry, chemistry for allied health sciences, organic chemistry, instrumental, and analytical chemistry. The experience of students as workshop leaders provides a natural introduction to teaching that is being formalized through a Teacher Preparation component of the project. The workshop method is also being exploited and applied in curricula for technician training, an initiative relevant to Advanced Technology Education. The project evaluates Workshop Chemistry and disseminates it beyond the bounds of the consortium. Student Workshop Manuals that include the problem solving, model building, and simulation activities of the workshops are being produced for each course. New project partners will be invited to view workshops, to participate in faculty developments, and to implement pilot workshop courses at their own ins titutions.