Bioorganic First: A New Model for the College Chemistry Curriculum

Abstract

This commentary describes a new approach to the college chemistry curriculum, one that acknowledges that most of the students in the class are more interested in the life sciences than in chemistry. The curriculum is appropriate for both majors and nonmajors. It begins with an organic course that emphasizes connections to biology but leaves out some of the more esoteric topics of sophomore organic chemistry. Sophomore year continues with the more physical material that is traditionally taught to freshmen, but at a higher level. There is a junior-level course that fills in the organic material missing from the freshman course, but is now taught only to those who will need it. The article describes these courses, documents the success of the approach, and points out some of the problems associated with it.

Incorporating Analytical Chemistry into an Introductory Course in Chemistry

“…Table 1 highlights some advantages of this introductory core. Although several institutions have adopted a curriculum that eliminates a traditional one-or two-semester sequence in general chemistry, most notably the "organic-first" curricula at The University of Michigan [6] and Juniata College, [7] we know of no other institution with an introductory core similar to ours.…”

Designing convergent chemistry curricula

“…'Organic first' curricula have been developed by Juniata College in Pennsylvania and by the University of Michigan, and biology-focused introductory chemistry sequences are offered at several universities, including Harvard and Purdue [13][14][15][16] . At most institutions, however, curricular change has been slow or nonexistent.…”

Organic First: A Biology-friendly Chemistry Curriculum

“…In a previous essay, I have described Juniata's unusual organic-first curriculum (Reingold, 2001) (http://faculty. juniata.edu/reingold/phil.doc).…”

“…Furthermore, many students interested in both chemistry and biology have the former interest beaten out of them because the chemistry content has little if any relevance to their combined interests. I have explained many additional problems with general chemistry (Reingold, 2001) and have summarized these in Table 1. Yet general chemistry is the course that most chemistry departments teach to first-year students, the majority of whom are taking chemistry because they want to major in biology.…”