Sweeping Change in Manageable Units: A Modular Approach to Chemistry Curriculum Reform

大规模的改革可以从小步骤开始，尤其是在变革的政治如此复杂的情况下。化学课程的变化必须满足我们所服务的理工科学生的需求，以及化学专业进入工业或研究生院的需求，以及文理学科对化学课程的需求。为了在变革中取得进展，我们必须找到一条道路，使课程能够不断修改，适用于各种机构，能够适应我们需要服务的日益多样化的学生群体，并鼓励教师和学生的共同参与。课堂内外的体验必须结合新技术来帮助学生获取、组织、过滤和吸收科学信息。我们必须修改我们的课程模式，跨越化学分支学科和所有科学学科之间迅速模糊的界限。我们建议在化学课程的各个层次开发独立的模块，这些模块可以在2-4周的讲座或实验课程中使用。为模块开发的教学工具将包括软件、视频、交互式CD和其他资源材料，这些资源材料可以取代或大大增加传统的文本和问题，以引起学生的兴趣，并将以跨学科的方式开发。每个模块将包含基本化学“工具箱”中的核心概念，教师可以选择各种模块以涵盖相同的核心概念。这不仅仅是对化学的重新包装，这是正在进行的系统性变革的开始，允许所有教师，无论是创新的还是传统的，在课堂上使用新的方法和环境。一个由加州大学、加州州立大学、两年制学院、私立机构以及佐治亚州亚特兰大的三所院校组成的财团将作为工作伙伴，建立模块的设计和测试。

9450703 Moore Massive reform can start with small steps, particularly when the politics of change are so complex. Change in the chemistry curriculum must meet the needs of science and engineering departments whose students we serve, as well as the needs of the chemistry major going into industry or graduate school, and the liberal arts conscripts to chemistry courses. In order to make inroads toward change we must find a path that makes possible a curriculum that can be modified continually, is usable in a variety of institutions, can accommodate the increasingly diverse group of students we need to serve, and encourages participation of faculty and students alike. The in- and out-of-classroom experience must incorporate new technologies to aid the students in accessing, organizing, filtering and assimilating scientific information. We must revise our model of curriculum across the rapidly blurring boundaries of the subdisciplines of chemistry, and the disciplines of all sciences. We propose to develop self-contained modules, at all levels of the chemistry curriculum, that can be used for 2-4 weeks in a lecture or laboratory course, The instructional tools developed for the module will include software, videos, interactive CD's and other resource material that can replace or greatly augment traditional texts and problem to interest the students and will be developed in an interdisciplinary manner. Core concepts from the essential chemistry "tool kit" will be included in each module and an instructor could select a variety of modules in order to cover the same core concepts. This is more than a repacking of chemistry, it is the beginning of ongoing systemic change that allows for all faculty, innovative or traditional, to use new approaches and contexts in their classrooms. A consortium of schools, predominantly from California -- the University of California, the California State University, the two- year Colleges, private institutions -- as well as three institutions from Atlanta, Georgia will serve as the working partners to establish the design and testing of the modules.