Designing and Evaluating Organic Chemistry Curricular Resources for Green and Sustainable Chemistry

该项目旨在通过改进本科有机化学教育来服务于国家利益。具体地说，它将使有机化学学生学习绿色和可持续化学。绿色和可持续化学的目标是以在从产品生产到产品处置的所有阶段减少或消除危险化学物质的方式生产化学产品。化学工业以及政府和其他组织越来越强调需要绿色和可持续的化学方法。因此，学习绿色和可持续的化学知识对本科化学教育至关重要。作为一项参与式学生学习1级项目，该项目将设计和测试案例研究和基于项目的实验室活动，以培养学生在绿色和可持续化学方面的知识和技能。在案例研究中，学生们将被要求解释现实世界问题的基本化学原理，例如开发在环境中更容易降解的塑料材料。他们将使用化学来指导相关可持续发展问题的探索，并设计潜在的解决方案。在实验室活动中，学生们将以小组形式计划和进行调查，例如使用环境安全或可持续的来源材料设计产品的合成。每个团队成员将研究一条不同的合成路线，然后团队将评估他们汇集的发现，以确定最符合绿色和可持续化学标准的方法。该项目预计将产生一系列案例研究和基于项目的实验室，这些实验室纳入绿色和可持续发展的化学原则，并已证实对学生学习有机化学的积极影响。该项目将使用基于设计的研究方法，设计、改进和评估包含绿色和可持续化学的课程材料，包括实验室项目和案例研究。在整个基于设计的过程的迭代周期中，将通过试行测试和与学生的访谈来评估材料的一致性、有效性和修订。本课程将根据与实验室专题和案例研究同时开发的评估提示，开发类比，以表征学生所达到的成熟程度。这些课程材料、评估、标准、相关发现和一套以理论为基础的设计原则将提供给化学界。预计这些资源将被教育工作者和课程设计者使用或改编，或作为编制新资源的指南，从而可能对各种机构背景和学生群体产生影响。通过这种方式，本项目旨在促进对学生对绿色化学的理解的进一步研究。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate organic chemistry education. Specifically, it will engage organic chemistry students in learning about green and sustainable chemistry. The goal of green and sustainable chemistry is to produce chemical products in ways that reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals at all stages, from product production to product disposal. Chemical industries, as well as governmental and other organizations, are increasingly emphasizing the need for green and sustainable chemistry approaches. As a result, learning about green and sustainable chemistry is critical for undergraduate chemistry education. Funded as an Engaged Student Learning Level 1 project, this project will design and test case studies and project-based laboratory activities that build students’ knowledge and skills in green and sustainable chemistry. In the case studies, the students will be asked to explain the underlying chemistry of a real-world issue, such as the development of plastic materials that degrade more easily in the environment. They will use the chemistry to guide explorations of related sustainability issues and design potential solutions. In the laboratory activities, students will work as teams to plan and carry out investigations, such as designing the synthesis of a product using environmentally safe or sustainable source materials. Each team member will investigate a different synthetic route, and the team will then evaluate their pooled findings to identify the approach that best meets green and sustainable chemistry criteria. The project is expected to produce a set of case studies and project-based laboratories that incorporate green and sustainable chemistry principles and that have verified positive effects on student learning in organic chemistry.Using a design-based research approach, the project will design, refine, and evaluate curricular materials, including laboratory projects and case studies, that incorporate green and sustainable chemistry. Throughout the iterative cycles of the design-based process, the alignment, effectiveness, and revision of the materials will be evaluated through pilot testing and interviews with students. Rubrics will be developed to characterize the levels of sophistication achieved by students in response to assessment prompts developed concurrently with the laboratory projects and case studies. These curricular materials, assessments, rubrics, the associated findings, and a set of theory-based design principles will be provided to the chemistry community. It is expected that these resources will be used or adapted by educators and curriculum designers, or as guides to produce new ones, thus potentially impacting a variety of institutional contexts and student populations. In this way, this project aims to promote further research on students’ understanding of green chemistry. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.