Putting Undergraduate Chemistry on Solid Ground: Analysis of Solids for a Deeper Understanding of Chemistry

在乔治敦学院，化学系正在改变化学教育的进行方式，从而通过循序渐进的方法引入固体分析，从而影响学生的兴趣水平、技能和知识深度。该项目加深了学生对固体的理解，有助于发展他们对化学在各种实际应用中的应用的理解，通过揭开化学设备的神秘面纱，并将化学分析与艺术、摄影、环境污染、新材料和食品等相关主题联系起来，加强一般学生的科学素养，并通过在学术生涯早期给予他们直接的现代仪器实践经验，吸引更多的学生进入STEM领域。一门名为化学、色彩和艺术的新课程正在帮助选择非理科职业的学生提高科学素养和经验。乔治敦学院超过一半的学生直接受到化学课的影响。此外，该计划将通过蓝草地区物理化学研讨会、高中暑期科学夏令营和由来自周边六个县的K-12教师组成的科学联盟，对该地区产生更广泛的影响。课程开发及其评价的细节将通过在国家会议上的发言和在一份化学教育期刊上发表来传播。该项目还在解决肯塔基州科学专业人员严重短缺的问题。

At Georgetown College, the Chemistry faculty are transforming the way chemical education is conducted and thus impacting the interest levels, skills, and depth of knowledge of the students by introducing solids analysis through a graduated approach. The project enhances students' understanding of solids and aids the development of their understanding of the use of Chemistry to a wide variety of practical applications, strengthens the scientific literacy of the general student body by demystifying chemical equipment and drawing connections between chemical analysis and relevant topics such as art, photography, environmental pollution, new materials, and food, and attracts more students to the STEM fields by giving them direct hands-on experience with modern instrumentation early in the academic career. A new course, Chemistry, Color, and Art, is helping improve the scientific literacy and experience of students who choose non-science careers. More than half of the students at Georgetown College are directly impacted through Chemistry classes. Additionally, the program will have a broader impact on the region through a Bluegrass Regional Physical Chemistry Symposium, a high school summer science camp, and a Science Alliance with K-12 teachers from six surrounding counties. The details of the curriculum development and its evaluation will be disseminated through presentations at national meetings and publication in a chemical education journal. This project is also addressing the critical shortage of science professionals in Kentucky.