The End of Chemical Education* Andrew S. Grant Department of Chemistry Mount Allison University

1. The End of Chemical Education* Andrew S. Grant Department of Chemistry Mount Allison University Sackville, NB * Acknowledgement to Neil Postman (deceased)

2. Sometime in August ……… • Class preparation • Lab design Means: What? How? What are we going to teach? How are we going to teach it? vs Ends: Why? Why are the students there? Why are we there? What’s the overall objective?

3. But First … a little what & how? What are some important topics to cover? • The 3-dimensionality of chemistry, including chirality • Electrons do the chemistry; orbitals, bonding, thermodynamics • The quantum nature of matter • Spectroscopy, the electromagnetic spectrum, measurement • The static / dynamic aspects of chemistry • Chemistry can be modeled, or simulated, on computer • Case studies of how problems have been solved (questions answered) • Need to give some idea of what the frontier looks like

4. The Frontiers of Knowledge How do we get from the center to the frontier? How to we create knowledge? RESEARCH!

5. But First … a little what & how? What are some important topics to cover? • The 3-dimensionality of chemistry, including chirality and biochemistry • Electrons do the chemistry; orbitals, bonding, mechanism, thermodynamics • The quantum nature of matter • Spectroscopy, the electromagnetic spectrum, measurement • The static / dynamic aspects of chemistry • Chemistry can be modeled, or simulated, on computer • Case studies of how problems have been solved (questions answered) • Need to give some idea of what the frontier looks like, and how we • get there. How will we teach the course? • Structure of the course (midterms, assignments, etc.) • Blackboard / Overhead / Powerpoint • Tell a story of scientific curiosity and creative discovery

6. Why are we in the classroom? Why are students in the classroom? • Undergraduate Universities are still places of higher education • (teaching and research). Do we get too focused on teaching chemistry and producing future grad students that we forget about life's other lessons? • The planet today faces many problems: environmental, health, • social, political, nutrition, education, etc. Creative solutions to these problems will come from our students. • Postman: “.. to become a different person because of what • you have learned – to appropriate an insight, a concept, a vision, • so that your world is altered – that is a different matter. For that • to happen you need a reason. A reason .. is different from a motivation.”

7. Knitting as a teaching metaphor. “We do not have a word for learning and teaching at the same time, but out schooling would improve if we did.” Kevin Kelly in ‘Out of Control; the new biology of machines, social systems and the economic world’

8. The concept of Narrative Postman says that what is required (for the public school system) is a narrative, or god. A story, a reason “..for putting up with school even if you’re not motivated” • Spaceship Earth (custodians of the planet) • The Fallen Angel (human beings make mistakes) • The American Experiment (Can a nation be formed, maintained, • and preserved on the principle of continuous argumentation?) • The Law of Diversity • The Word Weavers/The World Makers Postman: “Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning learning has no purpose.”

9. Scientific Narratives, or Agendas Countries Russia 1930’s: engineering Japan 1950’s: science, electronics & technology USA 1960’s: space program Regions California: wine, biotech Massachusetts: computers, biotech New Jersey: pharmaceutical industry Waterloo: computer science (RIM) Eras 1980’s - present: computers and the .com era 1990’s: biotech 2000’s: energy, materials? Canada: mining, lumber, fishing, Candu, the arctic, the Great Lakes TRIUMF, CLS,

10. “Ends” for Chemical Education • Learning for learning's sake • Life long learning • Citizens of tomorrow • RESEARCH (discovering new knowledge) • Unleash creativity (it’s fun!!) • Spaceship earth • Medicine • Energy • Materials science

11. The Train of Knowledge Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

12. Final Thoughts …. • The End of Chemical Education is RESEARCH • asking questions • finding creative solutions Canada needs to create a strong national narrative of scientific discovery. “We’re not just teaching facts, we’re trying to teach an attitude.” Karl Wiesner, UNB “Life is playful !” Alan Watts “The great irony of god games, is that letting go is only way to win.” Kevin Kelly

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