Connected Chemistry Curriculum: An Integrated Inorganic, Organic and Biological Chemistry Approach

该项目正在开发一个新的系列课程的结构和反应性在有机，生物和无机化学。这三个化学分支学科的各个方面正在合并，以开发三个新的讲座和三个新的实验室课程。第一堂课是考察生物化学中关键反应类型的刘易斯酸碱原理，包括羰基加成、羰基取代和烯烃加成。第二门课程扩展了这种方法，以建立金属络合物和有机化合物中缔合和解离取代的机械观点。第三门课程讲述了化学和生物学中基于金属和有机物的氧化还原和自由基反应，并概述了生物化学途径。三个独立的实验室课程使学生能够培养解决高级问题所需的一系列技术技能。这三门实验课程分别培养基本纯化技术、色谱分离和合成方法的技能。这六门新课程是继最近推出的入门级课程《化学结构与性质》之后开设的。智力优势这种有机、生物和无机化学的综合方法建立在“关联知识”的理论基础上，在这种理论中，信息是围绕通过多种途径联系在一起的核心概念进行有效组织的。因此，思考一个概念可以检索其他相关概念，促进材料的新应用。相比之下，传统的课程依赖于将材料划分为明确独立的主题。此外，课程通过突出化学在生物学，材料科学，制药学和其他领域的应用，与学生的经验建立联系。通过为材料提供相关的背景，期望学生在以后的几年里继续与自己的学科建立化学相关的联系。更广泛的影响期望这次修订后的课程可以使这些化学入门课程对更广泛的学生更具吸引力和有效性。此外，该项目预计将改变教师引入新课程的传统过程。课程的编制主要是通过跨学科教学小组完成的，这在教育领域历来用于培训新教师。教师以三人一组的方式工作，成员代表无机，有机和生物化学。这些小组成为指导和发展彼此在互补领域工作的支助小组。暑期讲习班为每门课程和实验室的教师提供方向。此外，教师指南，学生练习册，实验室手册和在线作业正在开发，以支持新的课程。编制这些辅助材料有助于将新课程纳入该机构的教学大纲，并有助于将课程推广到其他机构。通过NSF国家科学数字图书馆，通过化学家参加的区域和国家专业会议上的演讲以及期刊文章传播材料。

This project is developing a novel series of courses on structure and reactivity in organic, biological and inorganic chemistry. Aspects of these three sub-disciplines of chemistry are being merged in order to develop three new lecture and three new laboratory courses. The first lecture course is an examination of Lewis acid-base principles in key reaction types in biochemistry, including carbonyl additions, carbonyl substitutions and alkene additions. The second course extends this approach to build a mechanistic view of associative and dissociative substitutions in metal complexes and organic compounds. The third course addresses metal- and organic-based redox and radical reactions in chemistry and biology, and offers an overview of biochemical pathways. Three separate laboratory courses allow students to develop an array of technical skills needed to tackle advanced problems. These three laboratory courses build skills in basic purification techniques, chromatographic separations, and synthetic methods, respectively. These six new courses are taken following a recently introduced entry-level course, Structure and Properties in Chemistry.Intellectual MeritThis integrated approach to organic, biological and inorganic chemistry is founded in theories of "connected knowledge," in which information is efficiently organized around core concepts linked together via multiple paths. As a result, thinking of one concept makes it possible to retrieve other related concepts, facilitating new applications of the material. In contrast, the traditional curriculum relies on division of material into clearly separate topics. Furthermore, the courses build connections to the students' experiences by highlighting applications of chemistry in biology, materials science, pharmaceutics and other areas. By offering relevant context for the material, the expectation is that students will continue to make chemistry-related connections with their own disciplines in later years.Broader ImpactThe expectation is that this revised curriculum may make these introductory chemistry courses more appealing and effective with a broader range of students. In addition, the project is expected to change the traditional process by which faculty introduce new curricula. Course development is being accomplished primarily through interdisciplinary teaching cohorts, historically used in the field of education for training new teachers. Instructors work in teams of three, with members representing inorganic, organic and biological chemistry. The cohorts become support groups that guide and develop each other's work in complementary areas. Summer workshops provide orientation for faculty working on each course and laboratory. In addition, a faculty guide, student workbooks, laboratory manuals, and online homework are being developed to support the new curriculum. Production of these supporting materials facilitates incorporation of the new curriculum at this institution and assists in exporting the curriculum to other institutions. Materials are being disseminated through the NSF National Science Digital Library, through presentations at regional and national professional meetings attended by chemists, and through journal articles.