ERIC Number: ED661207
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 359
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3841-0110-9
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Integration of Green and Sustainable Chemistry into the Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Curriculum
Krystal Dawn Grieger
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, North Dakota State University
There has been a growing emphasis on integrating green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) into the curriculum. Unfortunately, there is yet to be a nationwide, uniform decision of which aspects should be included or how, leaving individual instructors or institutions to decide whether--and how--to address GSC knowledge. Furthermore, faculty nationwide have expressed the need for readily available materials to teach and assess student knowledge of GSC. Therefore, this work sought to address both the need to begin exploring what aspects of GSC are being integrated into the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum and to begin developing the needed instructional and assessment materials. The first part of this work sought to identify how GSC is integrated into the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum across the United States and what factors affect its incorporation. Through a nationwide faculty survey, we found that "catalysis" and "chemical hazards and exposure" were the most often taught green chemistry (GC) concepts. Additionally, the factors with the greatest impact on its integration included: 1) perceived importance for chemistry and related science students to learn about GC; 2) belief that the curriculum is already too full to integrate GC; and 3) departmental requirement or encouragement of GC integration. The second part of this work sought to provide readily available GSC instructional materials, resulting in the generation of both a case study that simultaneously taught about GSC and oxidation and reduction reactions and a series of modules that featured the development of student-generated instructional materials for GSC content, including videos, infographics, and open educational resources. These modules were perceived favorably by the students, with positive learning gains observed. Finally, the third part of this work began to fulfill the need for assessment tools capable of measuring GSC knowledge. Thus, the "Assessment of Student Knowledge of the Green Chemistry Principles" (ASK-GCP), a 24-item true-false instrument, was developed and found effective for measuring undergraduate student GCP knowledge, and an open-ended prompt from literature ["J. Chem. Educ." 2019, 96 (11), 2410-2419. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jche9 med.9b00277] that we titled the "Green Chemistry Generic Comparison" (GC)[superscript 2] was evaluated and found suitable for eliciting student GCP conceptions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Sustainability, Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Study, Organic Chemistry, College Science, Science Instruction, Curriculum Development, Scientific Concepts, Teacher Attitudes, Instructional Materials, Student Evaluation, Science Curriculum, College Faculty
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A