CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA
ACADEMIC SENATE
GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
REPORT TO
THE ACADEMIC SENATE
GE-001-145
CHM 101/101L
Consumer Chemistry (GE Sub-areas B1 and B3)
General Education Committee
Date: 4/19/15
Executive Committee
Received and Forwarded
Date:
Academic Senate
4-20-15
Date: 5-13-15
FIRST READING
GE-001-145, CHM 101/101L, Consumer Chemistry (GE Sub-areas B1 and B3)
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BACKGROUND:
In 2005-06, CHM 101/101L were dropped from the GE list but were retained by the
department as active courses that were recently offered by the department Fall 2010
and Fall 2013.
CHM 101/101L are each one quarter chemistry courses intended for non-science majors
as a means to meet GE Area B1 and/or B3 requirements. This course is designed for
non-science majors seeking to learn about important concepts, principles, and
applications of chemistry in their lives and professions, as well as to society at large. It
represents a more suitable alternative to the current practice of non-science students
meeting GE requirements through enrollment in General Chemistry.
RESOURCES RECOMMENDED:
Dr. Tina Hartney, Associate Dean for Academics and Research, College of Science,
Lisa Alex, Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Dr. Claudia Pinter-Lucke,
Associate Provost
RESOURCES CONSULTED:
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Dr. Tina Hartney, Associate Dean for Academics and Research, College of
Science – as originator of the referral, was asked the questions about the course
content outlined by the GE Committee (See below). We were referred to Dr.
Alex.
Dr. Lisa Alex, Professor and Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department –
Responded to the GE Committee questions and provided a revised Expanded
Course Outline for review.
Dr. Jodye Selco, Professor, Center for Excellence in Mathematics and Science
Teaching - Responded to the GE Sub-Committee questions
Dr. Claudia Pinter-Lucke, Associate Provost, Academic Programs – asked about
logistics of approving a course in GE that would not be counted as a GE course
for a subgroup of students – in this case, STEM majors would not be able to use
the course in fulfilment of their support course requirements – stated it would be
the responsibility of individual departments, through their curriculum sheets, to
guide their students to the appropriate courses.
All Department Chairs in the College of Science were contacted via e-mail to
gather their input or concerns about this course. Only one response was
received, from the Chair of Kinesiology, who had no objections.
DISCUSSION
In reviewing the proposal for CHM 101/101L, the GE Committee had several questions.
We studied similar courses offered by other higher education institutions as Consumer
Chemistry for non-science major students. Regarding the course content, there were
several items of concern. These are presented below, along with the responses of the
Chemistry Department:
Regarding specific concerns of the GE Committee:
GE-001-145, CHM 101/101L, Consumer Chemistry (GE Sub-areas B1 and B3)
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1- The course is called Consumer Chemistry. Food/nutrition chemistry seems to be an
important part of general chemistry knowledge for non-science major students. The
proposed expanded course outline did not have specified modules on food/nutrition
chemistry.
RESPONSE: While it may not be specified as such, the module on Biochemistry
includes items of Food Chemistry (analysis in lab) based on the chemistry of biological
molecules we all consume (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) and also covers genetically
engineered foods and drugs. So does the antacid titration experiment and the module
on polymers and water analysis. However, this is not a nutrition course.
2- Use of renewable energy (e.g. biofuels) is exponentially increasing in the world, and
Nuclear Energy seems to be less important in global energy portfolio. In the course
outline, there is 1 week specified for Nuclear Energy, but renewable energy-related
topics are not primary topics in the course outline.
RESPONSE: Again, these topics are included in the sections on energy combustion and
nuclear energy. The current issues in this text do include biofuels and renewable
energy, and the lab for our course does include this topic in looking at biomass
combustion. Nuclear chemistry is still very important, it is still at the forefront on
emerging developing areas (see the latest idea of using nuclear energy to solve India's
growing energy demand http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-US-movingtowards-civil-nuclear-deal-Obama/articleshow/46010967.cms ). Also, nuclear chemistry
is important in medicine and in warfare. Some understanding of nuclear chemistry is not
harmful, and may allow students to make better decisions in life if they understand
something about the chemistry and not just fear mongering. However, this ECO was
prepared back in 2011, and we have a new edition of this text which reflect some
changes to suggested topics to mirror current issues.
3- Medical/drug chemistry topics have not been included as direct learning modules.
RESPONSE: There is a separate GE course about drugs in society in AVS. We do
touch on drugs in weeks 8, 9-10 and 7. Again, it's intent is not to focus on drugs, but
chemistry concepts that students can apply to their lives and decision making
4- Some of the items in the lab outline are general and include topics that are very
broad. These items (e.g. water analysis) are not representative of the tests/activities
that would be covered in the lab.
RESPONSE: The broad nature of lab topics gives us flexibility to change it periodically, it
is supposed to be "general" in nature. It is also developed to be modular so that
experiments can be changed from quarter to quarter. We have a technical staff that
maintains an extensive archive of general experiments that can be used on each topic,
with new ones being developed as various instructors teach the courses. Labs can be
costly to run, so we try to keep the items used simple and not too harmful. This keeps
chemical and waste handling costs down. In many non-majors courses, students are
asked to buy items themselves and do labs at home. We felt this makes the course less
formal and not as interactive as being in a formal lab.
GE-001-145, CHM 101/101L, Consumer Chemistry (GE Sub-areas B1 and B3)
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5- Several items/language on the ECO submitted to the GE Committee were of
concern. These included: 1) Table on the 1st page: please update the revision
date; 2) Expected Outcomes: 2nd bullet: “PowerPoint” file development sounds like
an assignment. The committee encourages your department to review the Expected
Outcomes and improve it accordingly; 3) Expected Outcomes: 4th and 5th bullet:
Maybe replace “should” with “shall” or something similar; 4) Instructional Methods:
CPR and i-clicker are very specific technologies. The committee thinks it would be
nice if your department makes it more flexible to use other sort of technologies
considering daily changes in instructional technologies; 5) Relationship to Program
Objectives: “Goal 1” in not clearly defined in the submitted document. Also the
committee encourages your department to clearly define Goal 1 for both B1 (lecture)
and B3 (lab) areas.
6- Since the CHM 101/L consists of a course and a lab, the Office of Academic
Programs will require your department to submit 2 separate ECOs. Hence, the
committee encourages your department to do it before the referral is sent to the
Senate.
RESPONSE: New, separate ECO’s for CHM 101 and CHM 101L have been received by
the GE Committee and are included as attachments to this report. The issues listed in
items 5- and 6- above were appropriately addressed in these new ECO’s.
Another issue was brought up in the GE Committee regarding the differentiation (or not)
of this course outline when compared to a high school level chemistry course and lab.
Some concern was expressed that this course was not rigorous enough to be a college
level course. After careful consideration and discussion, we believe that this course, as
an entry level chemistry course, does in fact meet the standards of a college level
course. Since this course is designed for non-STEM students who may have never
taken a chemistry course, it would, by nature, need to be offered at a basic, introductory
level. Other courses on campus, such as Introductory Spanish or French, are taught at
a basic level that is surpassed by upper division high school courses on these topics.
Thus we did not feel that this is an issue that would prevent the approval of this course in
GE Areas B1/B3.
In terms of who would enroll in the course, we contacted Dr. Claudia Pinter-Lucke,
asking if there were any mechanism to prevent science (or other STEM majors) from
enrolling in this course to satisfy their GE requirement. She suggested that particular
departments should put limits on their curriculum sheets if they don’t want their students
to take CHM 101/101L. An alternative would be to set up a prerequisite for the courses,
such as, “Not open to students in Science, Engineering, or Agriculture majors”.
However, this would be a rather unusual limitation on a GE course, and was not
suggested.
It is believed by the GE Committee that individual departments have the responsibility of
guiding their majors, via the curriculum sheet, on taking the courses in support of the
major, rather than imposing that limitation in the on-line course listings.
GE-001-145, CHM 101/101L, Consumer Chemistry (GE Sub-areas B1 and B3)
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RECOMMENDATION:
The GE Committee recommends that CHM 101/101L be approved to be offered as a
means to meet GE Area B1 and/or B3 requirements
ATTACHMENTS
Revised Expanded Course Outlines