9450709 Nakhleh The faculty in the Department of Chemistry propose to assemble a model of change in both the undergraduate chemistry curriculum and instructional strategies. The faculty also propose to fully evaluate the learning that occurs as a result of these changes. The model envisions an outwardly spiralling approach to innovative changes in the full undergraduate chemistry program. The model starts with a pilot program of innovative changes in the two-semester introductory course for chemistry majors (60-70 students per semester), spirals out to changes in the introductory sequences for science/engineering majors and agriculture/health majors (3900 students per semester), and finally spirals out to the upper division chemistry courses (2500 students per semester), including the courses which train chemistry teaching majors. The model creates a thematic approach to the curriculum so that students will understand how the major themes of chemistry interrelate and how major concepts in chemistry, such as acid and bases, relate to major themes, such as equilibrium. In order to emphasize these themes and concepts the model prunes the curriculum and selects topics which are fundamental to a sound understanding of the discipline. The model also weaves the real world of chemistry into the courses by appropriate examples and introduces organic and biochemistry in appropriate topics, such as equilibrium, thermodynamics, and complex ion chemistry. In terms of instructional strategies, the model seeks to implement cooperative learning, conceptual change teaching, a balanced presentation of the macroscopic and microscopic worlds of chemistry, and a balanced development of conceptual understanding and skill in problem solving and using algorithms in the real world environment of large lecture sections and multiple laboratory sections at the university level. ***y
