Teaching Introductory Chemistry with a Molecular and Global Perspective: The Union of Concepts and Context

Transcription

1 Teaching Introductory Chemistry with a Molecular and Global Perspective: The Union of Concepts and Context CSR Workshop on Undergraduate Chemistry Education 22 May 2013 Jim Anderson Harvard University The Question is: How do we develop an innovative university level strategy leading to the proactive engagement of science and technology in the core objectives of the nation s future? And why? 1

2 Illiteracy of university graduates in the physical sciences Physical sciences hold key to solving problems of immense concern Central role and responsibility of physical sciences in societal objectives Research has demonstrated how students learn (?) chemistry and physics Needed: New Strategic Approach for Introduction Chemistry Universities have a major responsibility to prepare their graduates Introductory courses taught without a compelling context exclude rather than include Large departure of undergraduates from the physical sciences 2

3 PHYSICAL SCIENCES 11: Frontiers and Foundations of Modern Chemistry: A Molecular and Global Perspective Revolutionary developments in the union of chemistry and physics hold the key to solving unprecedented problems at the intersection of science, technology, and an array of rapidly emerging global scale challenges. In particular concepts central to energy and its transformations, thermodynamics, energy, entropy and free energy, quantum mechanics, atomic structure, molecular bonding, kinetics, catalysis, equilibria and acid-base reactions, and nuclear chemistry are presented with emphasis on the context of (1) world energy sources, forecasts and constraints, (2) the science and technology linking energy and climate, (3) modern materials and technology. Instructors: James G. Anderson and Gregory C. Tucci 3

4 What Drives the Strategy of PS 11? The University Has Specific Responsibilities to Its Students and to the Nation. Revolutionary developments at the union of chemistry and physics hold the key to solving unprecedented problems at the intersection of science, technology, and an array of rapidly emerging global scale challenges. 4

5 Reconsideration of the strategy of university science curricula is founded on the premise that it is the responsibility of universities to look forward in time: Decisions on what current university graduates face maps directly back to what they take in their freshman year. 2. If courses taken in the freshman year fail to deliver objectives, it is difficult to recover particularly in the sciences. 5

6 All university graduates today, independent of chosen concentration, face coming to terms with a number of questions: 4. Which public policy strategies are founded on sound scientific and technological understanding and which are not? 1. What technical forces are shaping the modern world? 3. not just in technology, but also in international economics, government, ethics, public health, law and education. 2. Where are the frontiers of innovation and what implications do those advances hold for professional endeavors... 6

7 Yet a growing compendium of research has shown that university graduates in the United States are, to a remarkable degree, lacking both fundamental knowledge of the physical sciences and the associated judgment with respect to consequences for society and for the nation s future. 7

8 Yet a growing compendium of research has shown that university graduates in the United States are, to a remarkable degree, lacking both fundamental knowledge of the physical sciences and the associated judgment with respect to consequences for society and for the nation s future. Research has shown: 1. Significant contributor to this lack of an effective scientific foundation is that introductory chemistry & physics are taught as isolated subjects. 2. Courses taught as isolated course material, without a larger and compelling context, create an exclusive rather than inclusive message leading to irreversible elimination. 8

9 PHYSICAL SCIENCES 11: Frontiers and Foundations of Modern Chemistry: A Molecular and Global Perspective Revolutionary developments in the union of chemistry and physics hold the key to solving unprecedented problems at the intersection of science, technology, and an array of rapidly emerging global scale challenges. In particular concepts central to energy and its transformations, thermodynamics, energy, entropy and free energy, quantum mechanics, atomic structure, molecular bonding, kinetics, catalysis, equilibria and acid-base reactions, and nuclear chemistry are presented with emphasis on the context of (1) world energy sources, forecasts and constraints, (2) the science and technology linking energy and climate, (3) modern materials and technology. What are those responsibilities: to look forward in time to judge challenges emerging 5 years, a decade, two decades in the future; to establish a state-ofthe-art science/ technology curriculum to proactively address those emerging challenges; and to link those developments into the structure and function of the global enterprise. 9

10 If I learned anything in my forty one years of teaching, it is that the best way to transmit knowledge and stimulate thought is to teach from the top down. Begin by posing large problems, questions and concepts of the highest significance and then peel off layers of causation as currently understood. Do not teach from the bottom up. E.O. Wilson 10

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12 This increasingly powerful union of science and society places the physical sciences in a position of direct responsibility. 12

13 Why does this come back to roost on the physical sciences? Because (1) technology leadership, (2) advances in human health, (3) national security, (4) international negotiations, (5) world energy sources, forecasts and constraints, (6) the science and technology linking energy and climate, and (7) modern materials... 13

14 ...requires an understanding of energy and its transformations, thermodynamics, entropy and free energy, equlibria, acid-base reactions, electrochemistry, quantum mechanics, atomic structure, molecular bonding, kinetics, catalysis, materials and nuclear chemistry. 14

15 What is the Dynamic of Higher Education in the US? 15

16 While there are significant differences between universities, there is a general pattern common to all: attrition from the sciences during and following the freshman year. Eyeballed from the perspective of graduate school or medical school entrance, the situation is at least tolerable. 16

17 National security, competitive economic considerations and human health should dominate public policy debates. But instead, public policy debates are dominated in large part by a lack of essential information and perspective that should be an integral part of a modern university education. 17

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19 q = ( H fusion )(mass ice) Volume = km km = km 3 = m 3 = m 3 Time to Melt: Years kwh 32 years = kwh/yr Hfusion = kj/kg ice Ice is kg/m 3 mass ice = ( m 3 ) kg/m 3 Solar Forcing of Climate: kwh/yr Circulating Energy Between Surface And Clouds, Water Vapor, CO2, Etc.: kwh/yr kwh/yr kwh/yr = q = kg ice = ( kj/kg) kg = kj = J = kwh 19

20 How does energy flow within the climate system, and what is the magnitude of that energy flow? Sun kwh reflected kwh emitted to space Energy flow per year kwh Water Vapor Carbon Dioxide Clouds kwh into climate system Water Vapor Carbon Dioxide Clouds kwh cycling within climate system Earth Ocean Ice 20

21 In the US we need 95% of university graduates who are scientifically and technical literate. Without the basic scientific foundation, it becomes virtually impossible to make the required connections to proactively engage in future decisions. 21

22 Current Strategy in Introductory Chemistry: Present lectures and text material that covers the basic formalism and theory Followed by problem sets, exams, etc. 22

23 Solid evidence has shown that there are two basic failures with the formalism first approach to teaching. First, it results in disembodied knowledge. Students cannot attach the knowledge to a context or their past experience, and so it is largely meaningless symbols and facts to memorize. Carl has shown that knowledge obtained this way is filed away in the brain in a separate compartment and building links to that compartment after the fact is much harder and less effective than if it had been filed correctly from the start. 23

24 PHYSICAL SCIENCES 11: Frontiers and Foundations of Modern Chemistry: A Molecular and Global Perspective Revolutionary developments in the union of chemistry and physics hold the key to solving unprecedented problems at the intersection of science, technology, and an array of rapidly emerging global scale challenges. In particular concepts central to energy and its transformations, thermodynamics, energy, entropy and free energy, quantum mechanics, atomic structure, molecular bonding, kinetics, catalysis, equilibria and acid-base reactions, and nuclear chemistry are presented with emphasis on the context of (1) world energy sources, forecasts and constraints, (2) the science and technology linking energy and climate, (3) modern materials and technology. The question is, how do we develop a strategy that weaves a modern perspective on the proactive role of science and technology into a university curriculum? 24

25 Course Objectives Linking Concepts with Context CONTEXT Glogal Energy Structure Consequences: Structure of the Climate 99 th percentile Energy Options Energy Technology Carbon Footprints Climate Engineering Energy: Scientific Foundations Chemical Equilibria Thermodynamics Electrochemistry CONCEPTS Electricity & Magnetism Induction Quantum Mechanics Molecular Bonding Kinetics Photochemistry Nuclear 25

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33 International Negotiations: Technology Leadership, Arms Control BUILDING A TECHNOLOGY BACKBONE Innovative New Materials: Nano Structures, Self Assembly, Solar Cells, Electronics CASE STUDIES Energy Production, Storage and Distribution Feedbacks in the Climate Structure: Thermodynamics, the First Law & Irreversibility CASE STUDIES BUILDING A GLOBAL ENERGY BACKBONE Concepts Context CASE STUDIES BUILDING QUANTITATIVE REASONING Human Health: Molecular and Cellular Level Imaging, Low Cost Disease Detection, Clean Water Technology Leadership: Electronics, Electric Automobiles, Health Systems and Software 33

34 Physical Sciences 11 Global Calculations Clinic 3 May AM Hall B 99th percentile 34

35 Some Questions That All University Graduates Should Know the Answer to: 1.What is the ratio of power received from the Sun to the power consumed by the human endeavor? What is the amount spent on energy extraction and distribution each year world-wide? 2.How do you calculate global energy demand? The increase in global energy demand? 3.To meet that demand do we need to build a 600MW power plant every month for the next 40 years? Every week? Everyday? Two every day? 4.When we trace the flow of energy from its production to its end use, why is 65% lost to waste? What controls that? 35

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37 Some (More) Questions That All University Graduates Should Know the Answer to: 5. How much does the nation spend on petroleum imports each year? What fraction is from the Western Hemisphere, what fraction from the Middle East? 6. How do you calculate energy to propel a gasoline automobile 100km? An electric car 100km? How much does the nation spend on gasoline each year? If the fleet was electric how much would the nation spend? By what fraction would that increase electricity demand? 7. Is it more efficient to heat a home by burning natural gas in the home or burn it in a power plant and then employing a heat pump in the house using that electricity? 37

38 Some (More) Questions That All University Graduates Should Know the Answer to: 8. Given that the US uses 3 TW of power, what fraction of the state of Arizona is required to generate 1 TW from concentrated solar thermal? What fraction of the land area of the Middle West is required to generate a second TW from wind power? How much does each cost? How much does it cost to install a national grid? 9. We have lost 50% of the permanent floating ice on the Arctic Ocean in the past 30 years. What controls the rate of removal of the second half? When was the Arctic last without permanent floating ice? How does the amount of energy required to melt that amount of ice each year compare to the amount of energy circulating between the Earth s surface and the water vapor, clouds and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? 38

39 ECONOMICS PUBLIC POLICY & GOVERNMENT PHYSICS CHEMISTRY 39

40 ECONOMICS PUBLIC POLICY & GOVERNMENT SCIENCES 40

41 PS 11 Metrics? Spring 2012: First Lecture - 25 Students; Second Lecture - 50 Students; Third Lecture Students; Fourth Lecture -125 Students Spring 2013: ~ 300 Students 41

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