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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1999  > September  >
In the Classroom
A First-Day Exercise on Relevance of Chemistry to Nonscience Majors Kindles Sustained Positive Student Response
Bal Ram Singh
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, 285 Old Westport Road , Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300
Cover
September 1999
Vol. 76 No. 9
p. 1219
Abstract
A teaching tool based on a classroom experience is described. Its purpose is to stimulate the interest of non-science majors early in a chemistry course. On the first day of class, a test is presented in the form of a take-home assignment. Students are asked to identify topics and courses in their majors that will require a knowledge of chemical principles. They are then asked to select one of these topics and justify its selection. The exercise provides a forum for students to consider the question of relevance, which recurs throughout the semester as complex chemistry topics are presented in the class. My experience suggests that in responding to such an assignment, students become aware of their lack of understanding about the relevance of chemistry in their majors, and they then have a better attitude toward learning in the classroom.
More Information
*  Citation
 Singh, Bal Ram. J. Chem. Educ. 1999 76 1219.
*  Keywords
 Teaching / Learning Aids; Nonmajor Courses; Introductory / High School Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 July 30, 1999
June 23, 2005
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