Interdisciplinary Studies at the Interface of Education


Fall 2001 Seminar Series
Fridays at 3 pm in Room 1400 Chemistry

.pdf poster for seminar series
information about ISIE

September 28: Debra Rolison, Naval Research Laboratory
"Isnít a Millennium of Affirmative Action for White Men Sufficient??"

Chemistry departments need more women as facultyóand not only to show the majority of their undergraduate chemistry students (who are now women) that a career in academia is a viable path. Yet according to cocktail folklore, applications from women for advertised positions are only 10% of the total, when statistics show that one-third of U.S. Ph.D.s in chemistry are awarded to women. So, why aren't women applying to academia in proportion to their numbers? Why are they voting with their feet against a career in an institution they know all too well? The disproportionate absence of women from the applicant pool warns that an unhealthy environment exists in U.S. chemistry departments: unhealthy to those professors who want to play a continuing, rather than merely genetic role in the lives of their children and unhealthy to those women, who once they demonstrate productivity, scholarship, and mentorship, still reap less respect (and the ancillary rewards of space, salary, funding, and awards) than their male colleagues.


October 5: P. Wyn Jennings, IGERT Program Director
"Perspectives on Graduate Education from the National Science Foundation"

Graduate education, as we know it, has had a long and successful history over the last century and certainly will for considerable time. Yet there are discussions and reasons for additions to the extant program. To some individuals, these additions are welcome and to others, they are a threat to the high quality and prestige of the system.

I will discuss these ideas giving reasons for change, suggesting additions, and discussing barrier to these changes.

October 26: Jim J. Duderstadt, University of Michigan
"Aiming for a Moving Target: Preparing for Faculty Careers during a Time of Rapid Change"

The higher education enterprise is in the early stages of a restructuring, driven by rapidly changing economic conditions, social needs, and technology. Like other sectors such as health care, communications, energy, and banking, market forces may overwhelm public policy in determining the future of the university. How should graduate students interested in academic careers prepare for what could well be described as a "global knowledge and learning industry"?

November 9: Chris M. Golde & Timothy M. Dore, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching & Georgia University
"What the Experience of Todayís Chemistry and Science Doctoral Students Reveal About Doctoral Education"

Reform is afoot in doctoral education. A number of reports and studies in the last decade have pointed out problems with the current system of doctoral training. These reports, however, have not included the voices of students. The Survey of Doctoral Education and Career Preparation sought to remedy this deficit, by surveying 4,114 doctoral students in eleven arts and sciences disciplines about their experiences. The survey provides evidence that the training students receive is not what they want, nor does it prepare them for the jobs they will take. Furthermore, the data shows that the process of doctoral education is unnecessarily mysterious. The presentation, by co-authors Chris M. Golde, now Senior Scholar at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Timothy Dore, assistant professor at the University of Georgia Department of Chemistry, will review the key findings of the study, with particular attention to the data about students in chemistry and other science fields.

November 30: Thomas J. Wenzel, Bates College
"Curricular Reform in Analytical Chemistry"

The report Curricular Developments in the Analytical Sciences, which was issued in 1997, presented the outcome of a series of National Science Foundation-sponsored workshops that brought together stakeholders from various constituencies within analytical chemistry. The report has spawned efforts to promote a national dialogue on and dissemination of efforts to reform the undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum. One of the primary recommendations in the report is that analytical chemistry instructors develop curricula the incorporate problem-based learning. In this talk, I will describe my own transition from teaching methods that might be termed "traditional" to ones encompassed within problem-based learning. Other examples of problem-based methods that are used in analytical chemistry at four-year and Ph.D.-granting institutions will be summarized. The advantages that justify a problem-based approach will be discussed. A number of activities are now occurring at the national level in response to the report. These include conference workshops and symposia, educational articles and columns in the journal Analytical Chemistry, and the creation of the National Analytical Chemistry Digital Library. The response from analytical chemists to these efforts has been overwhelmingly positive, indicating that there is significant interest in improving the undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum. This effort could serve as a model for curricular reform in other areas of chemistry.