This project is designing and implementing gateway exams in the general chemistry course for pre-engineering students. Recognizing the service nature of this course, we are identifying skills and abilities that are part of general chemistry which provide important building blocks for advanced engineering courses. These traits go beyond declarative knowledge of specific chemical facts and incorporate key conceptual development and problem solving strategies. A diverse advisory panel including faculty from Chemistry, Engineering and Educational Psychology is serving a facilitating role in this project. The first objective of the project is to identify, with input from this panel, the skills and abilities taught in general chemistry that are core to the engineering curriculum. Instruments are being devised to measure the competence of students in these areas. The resultant examinations are being used to assure minimum competency of students who pass the general chemistry course. Students who meet the minimum standards are assured of a passing grade in the course, though higher grades require more than minimal competence on this subset of content. The logistics of administering retakes of gateway exams in large lecture courses is being addressed.
