CHED 19 |
| A special topics course, CHM 380 Green Chemistry, was offered at Grand Valley State University, GVSU, in the Fall of 2006. Students with at least one semester of organic chemistry experience, majoring in Chemistry, Biomedical or Earth Sciences, from sophomores to seniors, participated in the class. They designed and distributed a campus wide electronic survey probing both the state of the knowledge about green chemistry and sustainability and the interest of GVSU student population in learning more about the subject. With over 1,600 responses, the results were overwhelming and strongly motivated us toward rethinking our instructional goals and toward active reform of the curriculum. Under the driving force of the students' interest in sustainability issues on one side and the imperative need to feel the gap between the traditional content of applied chemistry teaching and the principles of green chemistry, we were compel to change. A new course, Green chemistry and industrial processes, focused on sustainability concepts and based on ‘green' industrial applications is under implementation at GVSU. Designing the course as a bridge among the principles of green chemistry and the currently applied industrial processes brings two main challenges. One is to provide access to the newest developments in the industrial fields; the second is to align both the teaching content and the teaching strategies with the rapid updating requirements imposed by economic and environmental factors. To tackle these challenges we move away from traditional topics to real-life cases, and change the design and methodology to fit this new approach. Partnership with local area businesses interested in ‘greening' their production provides the real-life cases and constitutes an ideal ground for challenging the students' ability to analyze and understand the existing problems and to develop their critical thinking, while finding creative solutions. |
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Green Chemistry & Engineering: Equipping Scientists and Engineers to Achieve Sustainability
8:30 AM-11:05 AM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Jasperwood, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |