Polymer Chemistry: Cross-linking the Curriculum (PC3)

阿姆斯特朗大西洋州立大学化学系将开发“聚合物化学：交叉连接课程”(PC3)。天然和合成聚合物是几乎所有生物系统和耐用产品中的重要材料，大约一半的专业化学家在他们职业生涯的某个阶段与聚合物打交道。这个项目将允许学生在学习聚合物的背景下体验化学的相互联系。它将为现有的课程和实验室开发新的聚合物主题材料，并为化学专业开发新的入门和高级聚合物课程。总之，这些努力将使跨多个化学子学科的聚合物范例相互交织，并加强学生在聚合物化学方面的基础。PC3将通过让多名教员协调他们的指导，以连贯的方式解决复杂的主题，从而促进教员协作和促进团队教学。该项目将提供一个全面的课程方法，以满足最近修订的ACS指南和学士学位课程评估程序。PC3将专注于两个聚合物系统，聚天冬氨酸和开环复分解。在这些背景下，学生将被介绍历史上和工业上相关的聚合物合成程序，并将学习使用凝胶渗透色谱、核磁共振光谱和红外光谱的现代聚合物表征技术。将以问题为基础的学习纳入实验室，有望提高学生理解初级化学文献的能力，为学生在当地聚合物专业化学工业的职业生涯做好更好的准备，并提高学生对化学的兴趣和参与。研究人员将与项目评估员合作，研究将聚合物化学整合到课程中如何提高学生对基本化学原理的理解，以及整个课程的教学改革如何影响非认知学生的结果。

The Department of Chemistry at Armstrong Atlantic State University will develop "Polymer Chemistry: Crosslinking the Curriculum" (PC3). Natural and synthetic polymers are important materials found in almost all biological systems and durable products, and approximately half of all professional chemists work with polymers at some point in their career. This project will allow students to experience the interconnectedness of chemistry in the context of studying polymers. It will develop new polymer-themed materials for existing courses and laboratories, and develop new introductory and advanced polymer courses for chemistry majors. Together, these efforts will intertwine a polymer paradigm across multiple chemistry sub-disciplines and strengthen students' foundations in polymer chemistry. PC3 will promote faculty collaboration and facilitate team teaching by having multiple faculty members coordinate their instruction to address a complicated topic in a coherent manner. The project will offer a comprehensive curricular approach to meet the recently revised ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor's Degree Programs.PC3 will focus on two polymeric systems, polyaspartic acid and ring opening metathesis. In these contexts, students will be introduced to historically and industrially relevant polymer synthetic procedures, and will learn modern polymer characterization techniques using gel permeation chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. Incorporating problem based learning in the laboratory is expected to improve students' competency in understanding the primary chemistry literature, better prepare students for careers in local polymer-specialized chemical industries, and increase student interest in and engagement with chemistry. Working with a project evaluator, the investigators will study how integration of polymer chemistry across the curriculum increases student understanding of fundamental chemical principles, and how curriculum-wide teaching reforms influence non-cognitive student outcomes.