Beginning in the Fall Term of 1994, students in Chemistry 210 were offered an Honors option. Rather than a forming a separate section of the course, this Honors option is a course election that falls under the same drop/add time period as the rest of the course offerings, but does not require students to dis-enroll from the main course. This Honors option is called the Structured Study Group (SSG) program. It is a Supplemental Instruction activity.
In the SSG, a cohort of 120-160 First-Year Honors students participate within their 1200-student course for their standard coursework and examinations, earning their Honors credit by participating in extra weekly 2-hour sessions that are shaped, metaphorically, along the lines of a "performance studio" in the Arts. Assignments, in the form of common (not identical!) tasks, are subjected to peer presentation and peer critique facilitated by upper-level undergraduate leaders. Unlike simply directing students to work in groups or only providing them with problem sets, both of which are productive and engaging students in the structured study groups follow a detailed curriculum that helps them to develop the kind of skills that we believe are attached to a deep mastery of the subject matter in a format that encourages the students to also develop their more general learning skills.
During each session, the meeting time is typically divided between a number of activities. Each participant brings a duplicate set of his or her written assignment from the previous week. These assignments generally involve the creation of examples within a given context. In the very first assignment, they pick a C10-C13 molecule from a chemistry journal (after learning, in their session, how to decode line formulas, what journals are, where they are found, and what proper citation format looks like) and are directed to construct 5 rational examples of molecules with the same formula. They then propose rankings for their created molecules based on 3 of 6 properties, including, for example, magnitude of dipole moment, boiling point, and solubility. Later, a typical assignment might be to find an example of an SN2 reaction in a chemistry journal and format it as a quiz problem appropriate to the level of the class. The students are always directed to provide a brief statement that puts the reaction in context, a copy of the journal pages from which the example is derived, and a properly formatted citation. At the beginning of the session, the students submit one copy of their work to their leader, and the other copies are redistributed to the class. One or two rounds of peer review follow. The reviewer does not correct the other student�s paper, but rather answers a set of factual questions about the others� work: does the molecule or reaction fit the prescribed criteria (yes or no?); is the format and information appropriate to the level of the class (yes or no?); is the citation formatted correctly (yes or no?). During this time, the discussion within the group is free-wheeling, and it is the time of greatest learning for the students. Although the only duty is to mark off a �yes� or �no," the first round of peer review can take up to an hour. Only when faced with reviewing another�s work can the student deal with issues that were either incorrectly understood or that simply did not occur to them. These students have a structured opportunity to make, recognize, and correct their errors before they get to an examination. After the reviewing is completed, the reviews and the unmarked papers are returned to the originator, and he or she has a chance to decide if any corrections are needed. This second set of assignments and the reviews are collected, and they form part of the basis for the leader�s evaluation of the student�s performance that day.
Strands of advanced topics also comprise part of the class period. For example, in the first term, part of four or five class periods are devoted to discussion and in-class exercises involving Frontier Molecular Orbital theory. In the second term, spectroscopy, bioorganic chemistry, and more FMO-related work (electrocyclic, sigmatropic and cycloaddition chemistry) are alternatively introduced over the course of the meetings. Finally, the next week�s assignment is presented, along with any supporting discussion, examples, or software (ChemDraw, Chem3D, and CAChe) training needed to clarify the expectations. We also use a scanner-computer-projection system in class so that a student�s hand-drawn or on-disk answers can be used as the basis of a group discussion, if it is appropriate. Each of the two terms of the course in which structured study groups are used has ended the semester with a project that lasted a few weeks. In the first term course, the students receive copies of 2-3 journal articles, usually short communications, in which chemistry appropriate to the experience of the students can be found. The author of the articles has been one of the faculty in our department, although in principle it could also be an upcoming seminar speaker. For 3 weeks, along with their last sets of assignments, the students create and edit a set of questions that might be asked of the author. From each student�s contribution of 3 questions per article, the group selects and refines 3 questions from their entire section. On the last week of classes, the entire group of study group students meet with the author who then fields the questions asked by student representatives. We have once again taken a page from our colleagues in English, for example, who routinely arrange meeting between students and the author of a piece that the class has been studying. To end the second semester course, the students spend the last 3 weeks creating, refining, and peer editing their own case studies in scientific and professional ethics (analyzing ethics cases is one of the tasks in both terms).
The Honors students are graded for their participation in the weekly groups within the context of the larger 1200 student course. Every week during the term, the seven group leaders and a faculty member meet to discuss the upcoming and previous assignments, the grading criteria, and the classroom challenges faced by the leaders themselves. The leaders are then responsible for assigning to their students� performance a grade based on a U (unsatisfactory) - S (satisfactory) - O (outstanding) scale. In electing to participate in the Honors groups, students agreed to have their course grades based on a two-part scheme. First, the entire class of Honors and non-Honors students have their grades determined as usual, based on their four examinations. In order for an Honors student to maintain this grade with an �H� designation, he or she needs to have achieved an �S� average or greater from their group leader, with an �O� counterbalancing a �U.� A less than "S" average results in a proportional reduction of the student's grade, with an all �U� average reduces the student�s course point total by 10% along with whatever grade change might accompany that reduction.
There are 2 options for Chemistry 215 Honors credit each Winter Term.
Both Honors options involve SSG work.
The first option is meant for Honors students who do NOT want to participate in the special, intensive separate section (which is described below). In sections 100 and 300, there will be 2-hour structured study groups for Honors students to participate in just like for the 210H groups this term. Sign-up will take place on the first Friday of the 2000 Winter Term at 5 pm (more details will be provided at the first class meetings).
The second Chemistry 215/216H option is section 200. It is a separate course altogether from Sections 100 & 300. It is not an "Honors College" course and is open to all students. This course will meet MWThF 10-11 am, and there will be lab sections on M and F afternoons from 1-5 pm. Dr. Brian P. Coppola will be the instructor for the 215H lecture and the 216H laboratory during the Winter 2000 Term. You must take lab and lecture together...it is one big course that has nothing to do with the other sections: Different exams. Different syllabus. Not every topic you find in the traditional course. Lots of extra topics with extra depth dealing with the experimental issues of science. ...and who cares if every MCAT topic is "covered", anyway!?!
It is, rather, designed for any students who are interested in the chemical sciences (chemistry, Biochem, CMB, ChemE, etc), especially those who might be considering pursing a Ph.D. someday, and who are really excited about organic chemistry and enjoy the laboratory work. The course will be challenging. In the lecture, there will have a greater depth of coverage, more of an emphasis on experimental detail, and reading/writing assignments each week using chemistry journals, software and other materials (NOTE: these will be structured along the lines of the 210 Honors groups with a manditory additional 2-hr meeting that will be arranged once the term begins). Much of the laboratory will be organized along the lines of a small research project.
Selecting potential candidates for this course is difficult because we do not
know your individual professional objectives. If you would like to be considered
for this course, please fill out the form on the back of this letter. If you have
questions about the course, stop by Dr. Coppola's Monday evening discussion session
in Room 1800 at 5:30 pm on November 15th.