Chemical Safety and Security Education in ACS-Approved Chemistry Programs

Abstract

To date, chemical security education practices in postsecondary institutions are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial understanding of the practices, attitudes, and barriers toward chemical security education for undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States (US) by surveying representatives of American Chemical Society (ACS)-approved programs. All programs with ACS-approved undergraduate chemistry programs (n = 691) were contacted for participation: 21% (n = 148) fully completed and 6% (n = 41) partially completed the survey for a combined total of 27% complete and/or partially complete surveys (n = 189). We observed that most programs currently teach chemical safety (undergraduate >99%, graduate 73%); however, only about one-third of programs teach chemical security at any education level (undergraduate 32%, graduate 34%). We also observed that safety education is provided more frequently than security education. Further, ACSapproved programs reported that their chemical safety culture was stronger than chemical security culture and felt that safety should be taught differently than security. The overwhelming majority of respondents (96%) indicated that chemical safety should be mandatory at some level, while only about half of respondents (57%) indicated that chemical security should be mandatory at some level. More efforts are needed by the chemistry community to raise awareness of the importance of chemical security education so that more institutions commit to training their faculty and students on the topic. The authors suggest that adoption of chemical security education could be increased if ACS were to advocate for chemical security by including it in its guidelines for educational program approval.

With Anchors Aweigh, Synchronous Instruction Preferred by Naval Academy Instructors in Small Undergraduate Chemistry Classes

“…The academic curriculum is focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math): all studentsirrespective of majorcomplete 12 semesters of STEM core courses, including two semesters of introductory chemistry, with laboratory, that all first-year students must complete. Introductory chemistry at USNA contains an additional emphasis on relevant naval applications, including topics such as water desalination, corrosion prevention, explosives, nuclear reactors, and chemical weapons. − These are also topics of general interest as research on, and education in, chemical security continues to grow. − Common learning objectives and assessments guide the teaching of introductory chemistry, and although registration for the sequence exceeds 1,000 students, sections are limited to 20 students to allow for individualized instruction. Introductory chemistry is a very challenging requirement for the first-year students who, in addition to adjusting to the typical 17 to 18-credit academic load, need to adapt to balancing academics with military and physical training.…”

An idea to explore: Introduction to research methods

“…In recent times, there has been a momentum in stressing on chemical safety education and educators have come up with novel strategies to address this topic. [17][18][19][20][21] Harvard University's open access resources were used as pre-class readings. 22,23 To break the monotony of an already "mundane" topic, flipped-classroom approach was adapted.…”

“…It is not uncommon for trainees and even scientists with several years of experience, to breeze through annual safety courses without going through the protocols exhaustively. In recent times, there has been a momentum in stressing on chemical safety education and educators have come up with novel strategies to address this topic 17‐21 . Harvard University's open access resources were used as pre‐class readings 22,23 .…”

Designing and Implementing VR2E2C, a Virtual Reality Remote Education for Experimental Chemistry System

“…VR 2 E 2 C provides a fairly safe scheme for experimental teaching or training with dangerous chemical toxicants and can avoid most of the accidents that can occur during experimental teaching, either caused by students ,,− or by teachers…”

“…Designing various experiments so that students can perform them without leaving home and asynchronously can allow students experimenting in virtual reality to obtain experience similar to performing an actual lab. How to avoid accidents and solve safety issues has become a focus in chemical education. − …”