Blending Organic and General Chemistry: A Unified and Holistic Curriculum Reform Effort

Curriculum reform efforts aimed at improving chemistry education are varied in context as well as approach, but most of these efforts described in the literature are not holistic in design. This chapter describes a curriculum reform model implemented for chemistry and biochemistry majors at South Dakota State University. The objectives for the redesigned curriculum include restructuring the first two years of instruction to incorporate a blended approach, focusing on inorganic and organic chemical contexts, to teach the fundamental principles of chemistry as a discipline. The model begins with a qualitative description of atoms and molecules, and builds in quantitative rigor throughout the first two years of instruction. The accompanying laboratory curriculum is also described, in which the pedagogical approach is to train students in their first semester to use advanced instrumentation. In subsequent semesters, students begin to design and implement individual experimental procedures. The holistic approach we adopted is meant to create a spirit of community among beginning undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry majors to propel them into undergraduate research earlier in their academic training.