CHEM - 465  CHEMISTRY SENIOR SEMINAR SYLLABUS - FALL 2001

Description:  Chemistry Senior Seminar is a "capstone" course that helps prepare students for employment or post-graduate education.  The University Faculty Senate's General Education Committee and national groups, such as the Boyer Commission, call for increased attention to the content and importance of capstone courses.  In keeping with those recommendations, this course offers the opportunity to integrate the many chemical concepts you have learned and apply them to practical, real-world issues.  At the same time, it will provide the opportunity to make oral and written presentations, use computers technology, and sharpen your critical thinking skills while working with other seniors.  Our goals are to make this course useful, interesting, and enjoyable for everyone (including the instructors).  Check out the schedule to see what is planned. Also, check out a concept map that displays the interrelationships between the activities and goals of the course.

Take Note:   Many studies show that success in life, however measured, has little or no correlation with grade point index.  Success is correlated with completion of a college degree and with a variety of interpersonal skills.  Few chemists complete their careers doing only chemistry.  Thus, while employers want to hire knowledgeable chemists, they also look for personal qualities and experiences that indicate leadership potential and flexibility.  By focusing on some of these skills, Senior Seminar will favor students who can work cooperatively to solve problems, who like to integrate knowledge and ideas from different sources, and who enjoy public settings and presentations.

Expectations: Each student will:

• Regularly check for and respond to e-mail messages from the instructor,
• Access course materials on the course web-site,
• Complete an individual assignment relating to career opportunities,
• Participate in a variety of in-class activities relating to effective oral, visual, and written communication,
• Engage in discussions relating to ethical issues in science,
• Work with one or possibly two other student(s) as a team to find, evaluate, and organize information on a particular societal issue in a way that emphasizes the factual chemical aspects of the subject as it relates to the subjective issues involved in the decision-making process,
• Formulate a position on that subject and present it in a Power Point format to members of the class and external evaluators ("wild cards"),
• Create an informative Web-site on the subject (ready-to-use figures, informative commentary, and multiple relevant links to other sites) that could be valuable resource for faculty, students, and others on the issues, and
• Demonstrate effective oral, written, and visual communication.

Extracurricular Activities: The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry sponsors three seminar programs that meet at 4:00 PM on Monday (Physical/Analytical), Wednesday (Organic/Inorganic), and Friday (Biochemistry) of every week. The speakers come from universities, colleges, and industries from around the country and sometimes from around the world. They have been invited because they are doing interesting, often pioneering, research. The speakers and their topics are posted on colored posters around the department. We expect all seniors to attend at least two of these talks. Not only is this a wonderful opportunity to learn about what is going on at the frontiers of chemistry and biochemistry, it is an opportunity to meet people who may provide jobs or provide inside information on the graduate school prospects where they come from. For example, you are welcome to sign up to go to lunch with any of the biochemistry seminar speakers. The sign up sheet is posted opposite 123 Brown Laboratory. Be assured that most of these people are more than happy to talk with undergraduates who are interested in their work or their school/company.