BIO2010 Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix D: Chemistry Panel Summary
Appendix D: Chemistry Panel Summary
Pages 132-151
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From page 132... ...
His research in bioorganic and physical organic chemistry includes the development of novel molecules and artificial enzymes. He is a former president of the American Chemical Society and was named "one of the top 75 contributors to the chemical enterprise in the past 75 years" by a 1997 poll conducted by Chemical and Engineering News.
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From page 133... ...
His graduate students typically design a potential catalyst on the computer, synthesize it, and then determine its catalytic effectiveness and the mechanism involved. His lab also synthesizes molecules that mimic antibodies or biological receptor sites; they construct molecules that will bind to polypeptides with sequence selectivity in water, using mainly hydrophobic interactions.
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From page 134... ...
He is also co-editor, with Ken Houk of UCLA, of the Organic Chemistry Monograph Series of Oxford University Press. In collaboration with George Bodner in the Division of Chemical Education at Purdue, he has been developing a group-study approach to teaching organic chemistry, which has been implemented in the past several years in organic chemistry courses at Purdue.
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From page 135... ...
He served as chair, treasurer, and president of the Council on Undergraduate Research. He was the chairman of the education and human resources committee of the Midwestern Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges.
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From page 136... ...
Another area of interest is structure-function relationships in nucleic acids, in particular the topologies of complex naturally occurring RNAs, how their shapes relate to biological function and what governs their interactions with other biopolymers during protein biosynthesis. He was awarded the C
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From page 137... ...
Students who are planning on careers in biological research should take at least two years of chemistry courses taught in chemistry departments. Furthermore, even those biology students whose career goals are unsure should take such a program.
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From page 138... ...
This would give biology students a reasonable background for their second-year biology courses. The panel asked that chemistry departments consider a plan in which general chemistry is a one-semester course, followed by the first semester of organic chemistry in the spring of the first year.
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From page 139... ...
For that matter, biology students can find the contrast between laboratory chemistry and manufacturing processes interesting if the examples are well chosen. It does not seem practical to break chemistry courses up into different sections, addressed to different student interests.
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From page 140... ...
Example Course In his organic chemistry course at Carleton College, Jerry Mohrig integrates material on carbohydrates (which he believes are undervalued by the chemistry community) by having a capstone to his yearlong course on "Why do we get the flu every year?
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From page 141... ...
It will also be described in the Journal of Chemical Education. Laboratories Chemistry courses normally have laboratory work, either as part of the course or separately.
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From page 142... ...
Assessment was done by comparing answers to a question about paramecium and contractile vacuoles between students from the ID Lab and those in traditional chemistry and physics labs. An outside professor from Pomona College was brought in to score the assessment.
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From page 143... ...
The contrast in properties between carboxylic esters and phosphate esters has important basic chemistry lessons, but is usually neglected. The panel encouraged the teachers of elementary chemistry courses to think carefully about which topics they include and exclude, and not be tempted to teach only the most topical current chemistry research findings at the expense of covering basic and important material that they may personally find less exciting.
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From page 144... ...
Books as companions to traditional texts are useful. One companion is a materials chemistry supplement to traditional inorganic courses with illustrations of how to incorporate examples involving solids.
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From page 145... ...
The committee was formed in response to a perceived failure of the curriculum to meet the needs of scientists, especially industrial employers looking for employees with quantitative skills, trained in measurement science, and with more real-world, problem analysis skills. Three crucial areas that students lack are measurement, problem solving, and hands-on techniques.
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From page 146... ...
Do biology or chemistry graduate students act as TAs in biochemistry courses? The choice dramatically affects how the students see the material.
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From page 147... ...
Because biology has no committee on professional education and training, the Bio2010 Committee has been formed on a one-time basis to address biology education, including the amount and type of chemistry education that biology students need. The current ad hoc committee is not an adequate substitute for a continuing body with the responsibility to monitor and recommend the content of education programs for biology students.
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From page 148... ...
Skills Students should be able to: a. write the electronic configurations of the elements in the first two horizontal rows, including the atomic orbitals involved b.
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From page 149... ...
c. Write the structures of the building blocks of common biomolecules, such as the amino acids, the nucleotides, and the simple fatty acids and carbohydrates.
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From page 150... ...
b. What are biochemical examples of these reaction types?
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From page 151... ...
b. write the kinetic expressions corresponding to various simple reaction mechanisms, including the correct time and concentration dimensions.
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