Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate students upon graduation with a B.A. or B.S. degree in chemistry:

1. Have firm foundations in the fundamentals and application of current chemical and scientific theories.
2. Are able to design, carry out, record and analyze the results of chemical experiments.
3. Are able to use modern instrumentation and classical techniques, to design experiments, and to properly record the results of their experiment.
4. Are skilled in problems solving, critical thinking and analytical reasoning.
5. Are able to identify and solve chemical problems and explore new areas of research.
6. Are able to use modern library searching and retrieval methods to obtain information about a topic, chemical, chemical technique, or an issue relating to chemistry.
7. Knows the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals and can follow the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling when using chemicals.
8. Are able to communicate the results of their work to chemists and non-chemists.
9. Understand the ethical, historic, philosophical, and environmental dimensions of problems and issues facing chemists.
10. Find gainful employment in industry or government, be accepted at graduate or professional schools (law, medicine, etc.), or find employment in school systems as instructors or administrators.

In addition to the assessment measures listed for B.S. and B.A. undergraduates, graduate students upon graduation with a M.S. or Ph.D. in chemistry:

11. Will demonstrate chemistry proficiency in all four disciplines of chemistry: analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical.
12. International students must demonstrate proficiency in the English language.
13. Will present at least one public seminar prior to their final defense
14. Are required to complete one semester of halftime teaching experience for a graduate degree.
15. After passing written prelims, and in any event no later than the end of the fifth semester in residence, the student will complete the oral preliminary examination.
16. Will successfully defend their research during their final defense examination
17. Will submit a final thesis to the Graduate College approved by the Department of Chemistry.

Assessment

Undergraduate students who successfully pass the chemistry courses, appropriate required and elective courses outside of the department, and receive undergraduate research course credit in the B.S. or B.A. degree chemistry curriculum demonstrate that they:

1. Have attained a firm foundation in the fundamentals and application of current chemical and scientific theories.
2. Are able to design, carry out, record and analyze the results of chemical experiments.
3. Are able to use modern instrumentation and classical techniques, to design experiments, and to properly record the results of their experiment.
4. Are able to use modern instrumentation and classical techniques, to design experiments, and to properly record the results of their experiment.
5. Are able to identify and solve chemical problems and explore new areas of research.
6. Are able to use modern library searching and retrieval methods to obtain information about a topic, chemical, chemical technique, or an issue relating to chemistry.
7. Knows the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals and can follow the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling when using chemicals.
8. Are able to communicate the results of their work to chemists and non-chemists.
9. Currently, our department does not have a way to assess outcome for number 9, "understand the ethical, historic, philosophical, and environmental dimensions of problems and issues facing chemists." Over the next three years our Undergraduate Affairs Committee will be researching what can be done to assess this outcome.
10. In order to measure Outcome 10, "find gainful employment in industry or government, be accepted at graduate or professional schools (law, medicine, etc.), or find employment in school systems as instructors or administrators," our department surveys the senior chemistry majors each Spring, and asks them where they will be working, where they are going to graduate school, professional school, etc. upon completion of their degree. We keep a record of where our undergraduate chemistry majors are working.

In addition to the assessment measures listed for B.S. and B.A. undergraduates, graduate students who successfully pass the chemistry courses, appropriate required and elective courses outside of the department, proficiency requirements, preliminary oral requirement, seminar requirement, and successfully defend a final defense of their research in pursuing an M.S. or Ph.D. degree in chemistry curriculum demonstrate that they:

11. Are proficient in chemistry by completing diagnostic exams in four areas: analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical. The exams are offered immediately prior to the first semester, and may not be delayed. The results are used to counsel students into suitable courses. Students must demonstrate chemistry proficiency for each discipline in which a deficiency was found by the end of the third semester in residence to remain in good standing in the Chemistry Graduate Program. This can be accomplished in any one of the following ways listed below.
    • A student could demonstrate proficiency in the area(s) in which they did not pass the diagnostic examination by retaking the diagnostic examination(s) in January and again, if necessary, in the following August. This can be accomplished by self-studying or by auditing or sitting in on courses.
    • A student could enroll in an approved graduate course in the deficient area and earn a grade of B- or better.
    • A student could enroll in an appropriate undergraduate course and earn a grade of B- or better. This might be appropriate for a student who fared very poorly in the corresponding diagnostic. Such action by the student would be acceptable insofar as registration in an undergraduate course does not count for graduate credit.
12. All international graduate students are to take a qualifying exam in English before 12 credit hours have been completed. Students who fail the required tests are to take the specified remedial actions. Courses required to satisfy the English requirement are to be taken within the first year; students must enroll for credit and not pass/fail. Fulfillment of the required remedial courses in English is a prerequisite for advancement to RAII status and to take the oral prelim exam. Students whose native language is not English must take the ISU English Placement Test for International Students. Furthermore, TA's must take the SPEAK/TEACH Test.
13. Present at least one public seminar (on current research or on the scientific literature), prior to their final defense. An oral presentation at a national or international meeting may satisfy this requirement.
14. Have completed one semester of a half-time teaching experience.
15. Have completed successfully 5 written preliminary examinations. The Preliminary Examination is designed to promote an integration of the student's knowledge, to require the student to stand up to oral questioning by experts in the field, and to screen students being considered for the Ph.D. degree. Students begin writing examinations no later than the first February following August enrollment or the first September following January enrollment.
16. Preliminary oral exams will ordinarily comprise discussion in three broadly defined areas: (1) the student's general knowledge in the field of the major; (2) the student's research up to the time of the preliminary oral exam; and (3) proposed research. The student will prepare a presentation on the latter two points. Specific requirements regarding the proposed research component, such as whether the proposal reflects the student's own future research or an 'outside project' and whether a written document is required in advance vary from major to major.
17. The final examination is conducted by the Program of Study Committee (POSC). The candidate submits a copy of the thesis to each member of the POSC two weeks in advance. The final defense consists of a publicly announced oral presentation, which is open to the public, followed by a closed examination. This applies both to Ph.D. and M.S. candidates.
18. The full thesis must be approved by the Chair of the Department of Chemistry, who will sign the title pages and the Graduation Approval Slip.

Analysis of the Assessment Measures

Undergraduate Program

The curricula in chemistry for the B.A. and B.S. degrees are approved by the American Chemical Society (ACS), which reviews our course offerings, laboratory facilities, instrumentation, examinations, student undergraduate research reports, etc. every five years. Students who successfully complete all of the required courses and approved electives in the chemistry program obtain an ACS certified baccalaureate degree. The American Chemical Society appoints a review team to conduct an on-site inspection, interview faculty, students, and staff, and evaluate our entire undergraduate chemistry program. For the past fifty years, our undergraduate chemistry major program has passed this external review and evaluation. The success of this external review demonstrates the validity of Assessment Measures for Outcomes 1 - 8.

Over the past three years, we have tracked where our undergraduate chemistry majors go and what they do after graduation. About half go on to graduate schools, about 40% obtain employment in industry or government, The remaining percentage of chemistry majors enter professional schools in medicine, law, etc. or are secondary school chemistry teachers. From time to time we receive reports from employers or graduate schools about the success of our chemistry majors. The success of our undergraduates over the past 50 years demonstrates the validity of the Assessment Measure for Outcome 10.

Our undergraduate chemistry majors enroll in Chem 550 "Chemistry Safety". Credit earned in this course is an indicator that the student is proficient in Outcome #7 - knows the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals.

Chemistry undergraduate majors who take Chem 399 or Chem 499 Undergraduate Chemistry Research often give oral presentations in research group meetings, present posters of their chemistry research at chemistry or honors poster sessions, or present research papers (oral talks supported by PowerPoint presentations) at regional or national meetings of the American Chemical Society. Successful credit earned in this course is an indicator that the student demonstrates Outcome #6 able to use modern library searching and retrieval methods to obtain information about a topic, chemical, chemical technique, or an issue relating to chemistry; Outcome 7 - knows the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling and use of chemicals and can follow the proper procedures and regulations for safe handling when using chemicals; and Outcome #8 - able to communicate the results of their work to chemists and non-chemists.

Specific Changes to Our Undergraduate Chemistry Program Over the Past Four Years As a Result of Monitoring the Results of Our Assessment Measures

Graduating seniors are informally interviewed by either the advisor or the chair as they approach completion of the degree. Such feedback is given to the Curriculum, Undergraduate Activities and/or Graduate Activities committees for faculty discussion and further curricular implementation.

Informal recitation sections (one hour each week) with Chemistry 331 (undergraduate organic chemistry) are being offered. These were created voluntarily by the instructors, and were supported by the department with two teaching assistants, and received strongly positive response from students who attend these sessions. The department, however, remains reluctant to require recitation with these courses because it would necessitate an additional credit hour to the course, and, as such, may interfere with the degree requirements of other majors.

The most recent ACS review of our curricula required us to include a 3-credit course in the area of biochemistry for those students who wish to be certified as chemists by the ACS. This was done to put our undergraduate chemistry program in compliance with the new ACS undergraduate chemistry major guidelines. We were approved to allow several advanced chemistry courses that include a substantial amount of biochemistry as a course option to fulfill this requirement.

The most recent ACS review of our curricula required us to keep copies of all Chem 399 and Chem 499 undergraduate research reports for a period of five years. This was done to put our undergraduate chemistry program in compliance with the new ACS undergraduate chemistry major guidelines.

The analytical and physical chemistry laboratory courses have eliminated obsolete experiments and introduced several modern experiments using state of the art instrumentation.

Graduate Program

Over the course of the 2004-2005 academic year, the Department of Chemistry's Curriculum Committee conducted a self-examination of its graduate and undergraduate curricula. The starting point of our study of the graduate curriculum was a set of two similar anonymous surveys: one to our faculty and one to our graduate students. Both philosophical and practical questions were asked, and responses were open ended.

Among the sentiments to come from the faculty survey were: 1) that the intent of the curriculum ought to be both fundamental science and preparation for research; 2) that some felt we should be more "modular" in approach; 3) that some felt our cume system ought to be dropped, while others firmly supported it; 4) that there was some sentiment for streamlining requirements to get students into the lab full time more quickly; and 5) that our inorganic curriculum needed to respond to a dropping enrollment and our analytical curriculum needed refreshing.

Among the sentiments to come from the student survey were: 1) that the course offerings should NOT be made less rigorous or requirements for coursework lowered; 2) that the analytical curriculum needed refreshing; 3) cumes were not a loved experience nor without problems, but were generally supported as worthwhile and positive learning experiences.

As a result of these surveys and further discussions, it was decided that the curriculum's basic structure was meeting our needs, and that the need to "reform" was largely in content. After this survey, most sentiment to reduce course or cume requirements were seen largely in terms of competition with other graduate schools. It was chosen not to "race to the bottom" without further evidence of this being a positive step. Two substantive actions were taken after significant further internal discussions: revisions of both the analytical and inorganic curricula. (The organic curriculum was similarly revised within the last 5 years.) As revised, they are now:

Analytical: all majors must take 9 units among the following as part of their 17 units:

1. 512 Electrochemistry (3 cr) 516 Separations (3 cr)
2. 513 Spectroscopy (3 cr) 577 Mass spectrometry (3 cr)
3. Additionally, Chem 511 (Advanced Survey of Analytical Chemistry, 3 cr) will be offered every other year.

Inorganic: Revamped course offerings will be as follows:

1. 402/506 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (3 cr)
2. 505 Structure, bonding, and reactivity (3 cr)
3. 571 Solid state chemistry (2 cr, alternate years)
4. 574 Homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes (2 cr, alternate years)
5. 503 Bioinorganic chemistry (2 cr, alternate years)

The graduate program receives frequent scrutiny by faculty with input from the graduate students. Recent changes to the program were the result of discussions with a graduate student-faculty liaison committee, involving both students and faculty. The main outcome of these discussions was to promote enhanced communication between faculty and students with respect to expectations and performance toward completing the advanced degree. The primary issues for discussion in future years include (a) the impact and further developments of "dedivisionalization;" (b) the significance of cumulative examinations; and (c) the role of the Program of Study committee.

Dedivisionalization: At the graduate level, there is a growing group of students who are interested in pursuing interdisciplinary research. This trend is also reflected in our faculty. For this reason, the Department recently established the "Chemistry" major. Another mechanism is for a student to have co-major professors. Although this is a clear trend, there remains significant sentiment among many faculty and students to retain the traditional disciplines: Analytical, Inorganic, Organic, and Physical. In many ways, the Department has moved to dedivisionalize -- in the seminar program, in the offering of cumulative exams, in student advising and mentoring, but divisions remain, largely for teaching assignments. Nevertheless, as the culture of the Department changes during the next several years with new faculty members with research interests that transcend traditional disciplines, the Department will necessarily need to evaluate how these changes will affect the graduate program.

Cumulative Examinations: This part of the graduate program remains moderately controversial among faculty members and graduate students. Those in favor of these written exams cite educational benefits and focused preparation of special topics as benefits; those opposed are concerned with their impact on student recruiting. The Department certainly notices many competing departments in the nation eliminating cumulative exams from their programs, so discussion will continue.

Program of Study (POS) Committees: One outcome of the student-faculty liaison committee was to initiate annual meetings between graduate students and their POS committees to enhance student-faculty communication. The Department needs to assess the effectiveness of this part of the graduate program as well as to examine ways to improve the annual review of graduate students, which typically occurs in late May or early June, which is well into the Summer semester. This is much too late to properly advise first-year students who are having academic difficulties. More effective means of rewarding exceptional students as well as recognizing weaker students are necessary.

References
Iowa State University Catalog Undergraduate and Graduate Courses and Programs, 2005-2007, pages 162-165.
Graduate Manual Department of Chemistry, 2005-2006.
Departmentof Chemistry Self Study 2000-2005, pages VII 5-VII 8.