Introduction
The Chemistry Department of Eastern Michigan University is dedicated to providing its education students with the very best and most modern scientific training in the fields of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, and biological chemistry. By graduation, these students will have completed coursework covering each of the aforementioned areas. The following narrative explains how students are being prepared in each of the subfields of chemistry.

Most of the chemistry preparation for the future teacher is found in the general chemistry sequence. We have added some distinct features to this sequence of courses and thus the description of the methodology in this sequence will be more detailed than the rest of the courses. Both Secondary Majors and Minors in Chemistry are required to take this sequence of classes.

The general chemistry sequence (CHEM 121, CHEM 122, CHEM 123, CHEM 124) offers students the very best instruction possible in to the theoretical and applied chemistry because it follows the benchmarks set by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the premier organization of professional chemists (and one that also approves curricula in chemistry, and EMU has an ACS approved professional chemistry major). ACS guidelines have long incorporated benchmarks found for the Michigan Curriculum Framework in the areas of basic knowledge, household, agricultural, and environmental chemistry, for the ACS has published numerous articles and books exposing its members to chemistry in a real-world context. The following areas are covered in the duration of the general chemistry sequence: nomenclature, stoichiometry, atomic and molecular structure, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibria, and solution chemistry.

The first semester of general chemistry (CHEM 121) is designed to prepare the students in the content that is covered by the one-semester ACS examination. (The ACS.) This content is basically the first ten or eleven chapters of most general chemistry textbooks. The second semester of general chemistry (CHEM 123) covers the next ten chapters in a standard general chemistry textbook. This two-semester sequence then matches the content covered by the ACS general chemistry examination for the full year program. Using the standards provided for the Michigan teacher’s exam, it is also evident that the majority of the material tested in this certification area comes from the two-semester general chemistry sequence. Our department has continued to stress this with students who are preparing to take the exam, and we continually check that the material covered in general chemistry relates to the standards for this test. The students receive additional exposure to fundamental chemistry concepts by taking the upper division chemistry courses, where they learn that the various fields of chemistry (and various fields of science for that matter) are interrelated and not isolated areas of investigation.

A very creative use of computers in our general chemistry laboratories (CHEM 122 and CHEM 124) involves the use of a Prelab program, prepared by EMU faculty. This program requires that the students respond to a series of questions related to the content of the experiment for the coming week. The items are individualized for mathematical calculation, and thus each student must work out their own answers. The computer checks for correctness, including significant figures allowed, and all the questions must be answered correctly in order to print out a sheet granting authorization to do the experiment.
Positive aspects from using the Prelab assignment are: 1) students come to the laboratory much better prepared, 2) introductory talks at the beginning of the class period can be greatly reduced leaving more time for the hands-on laboratory activities, 3) the laboratories run more smoothly, safely, and timely, 4) the students become familiar with using the computers as a tool, 5) and the students learn to organize materials from lecture and previous laboratories to solve the Prelab assignments that follow during the semester.

To aid complicated or repetitive calculations, the EMU Chemistry Department has purchased a site license for a scientific spreadsheet called Graphical Analysis (from Vernier). This program is then used by the students during the semester, and they are legally permitted to burn a CD copy of this software for their own use throughout their career. [The students may also download the Prelab software from the Chemistry Department’s web page so that they can run the program on their own computers. Both programs are also loaded on the twenty computers in the Chemistry Department’s computer room, as well as being loaded onto a number of computers in the Library’s computer commons.] The Graphical Analysis computer program familiarizes students with the use of technology in data analysis, and ensures that the future teachers have had training with scientific software and in the use of computers for scientific endeavors. Students also develop problem-solving skills as they devise their own approaches to data analysis. These educational experiences support the State of Michigan’s goal of preparing teachers that are familiar with methods of technology as well as applied mathematics.

The assignments in the general chemistry laboratory courses prepare the future teachers in the operation of a wide variety of modern instrumentation, techniques, and computer applications. While the school systems that they will teach in will likely have only some of this equipment, this exposure will help ensure that they can use whatever equipment is available to them and give them ideas about what equipment to purchase (or gain access to through a local college) in the future. During their program of study at EMU, the future teachers use visible spectrophotometry on many occasions, often in the form of a colorimeter that is interfaced to a computer for data collection. For the computer interfacing, a software program called Logger Pro (also from Vernier) is used in conjunction with hardware purchased from Vernier. This interfacing allows the colorimeters to conveniently collect data for kinetics and equilibria studies. Other interfaces allow the collection of pH data in a titration, temperature in calorimetry trials, and pressures in conjunction with changing gas volumes. Whether or not the computer equipment is in use for any given laboratory assignment, the students are following a well written (by members of the department, Dr. Nord in particular) laboratory manual that incorporates a guided discovery approach which provides valuable training to secondary education students.

The future teachers (Secondary Major and Minor in Chemistry) continue their preparation by taking CHEM 281, the quantitative analysis course. This class is a combined lecture and laboratory course that introduces students to additional chemical techniques and “wet chemistry” methods such as; gravimetric and volumetric analyses, trace analyses, potentiometry, flame emission photometry, atomic absorption photometry, and classical separation methods. This is the first course where the students keep a detailed laboratory notebook and turn in laboratory reports written in scientific style (and thus learn the skills of communicating results), and these aspects of the class serve as models for how they can have their students keep a notebook and turn in written reports. (The future teachers also are given written feedback to their work, and they can use this feedback as a model for the feedback they give to their future students.) The students learn to critically evaluate their laboratory data using statistical methods, and the student grades are highly dependent upon the accuracy and precision of their laboratory results. The lecture portion of this course gives the students an introduction to common statistical methods (error analysis, least squares, and confidence limits), details of the complex equilibria found in acids and bases, fundamentals of spectroscopy, advanced solubility concepts, basics of electrochemistry, and separation methods. The advanced techniques learned in this class may be applicable to future teachers that find themselves teaching a second year of high school chemistry, or an AP (advanced placement) class. If the future teachers are required to make their own stock solutions for the laboratories that they teach (instead of buying the solutions directly from a chemical storehouse), then the solution preparation skills (and accuracy of the solution molarities) taught in this class will be invaluable to them.

In the subarea of physical chemistry, only students acquiring a Secondary Major in Chemistry are required to take a dedicated course, CHEM 361 (Physical Chemistry). This course integrates physics, mathematics and chemistry and is by its very nature interdisciplinary. This class prepares students with a theoretical understanding of the following topics: gases and kinetic-molecular theory, entropy and free energy, colligative properties, equilibria, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and rates of reactions. This coverage gives an in-depth analysis of many of the concepts learned in General Chemistry, and imparts the future teacher with a considerable knowledge base in these areas so that they can answer difficult questions that inevitably arise in a classroom situation. This course also enhances problem solving abilities, develops depth of knowledge and firmly places students in a position to appreciate chemistry from a very abstract vantage point.

Secondary Major students will also take CHEM 381, Instrumentation for Chemical Technology (a combined lecture and laboratory course). This course introduces the students to advanced instrumental methods used in laboratories around the world, and allows students to utilize modern (high-priced) instrumentation to conduct trace analyses of many different substances. The methods include infrared (IR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy atomic absorption/emission (AA/AE) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry. It also includes gas chromatography (GC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), potentiometry, and polarography. The laboratory experiments themselves are very practical and include the analysis of dog food, medicines, tap water, and caffeine content in beverages. In this class, detailed reports in scientific format are required from the students. Additionally, each semester a neutron activation analysis is performed at the Ford Phoenix nuclear reactor at the University of Michigan. The students get to enter the facility, view the reactor pool, listen to a lecture by one of the personnel at the facility, watch as the sample is run, and then they work up the decay data that is collected. These experiences also provide and advance knowledge base, and one that the future teachers can draw on to answer challenging questions or to incorporate ideas from as the secondary curriculum changes and advances. [Unfortunately, due to cutbacks, this facility is going off-line soon.]

Both the Secondary Major and Secondary Minor students in Chemistry are required to take an organic chemistry sequence. The Secondary Major students are required to take the 300-level sequence (see below), while the Secondary Minor students are afforded an option of taking either the 200-level (see below) or the 300-level sequence. In both of these sequences, the students are prepared to understand the fundamentals of organic chemistry so that they are capable of teaching the subject at the secondary level (which is done as part of a chemistry class in a number of high schools, while some specialized high schools have entire classes devoted to the topic of organic chemistry).

The organic lecture courses CHEM 371 and CHEM 372 together comprise a traditional year of organic chemistry. Topics like stereochemistry, nomenclature, functional groups, and reaction chemistry are covered in this course. The laboratory course, CHEM 373, is designed to taken after CHEM 371 and along with CHEM 372. This way instead of taking two one-credit-hour laboratories each semester, the students can “double up” the time in the laboratory the second semester. This allows coverage of additional advanced reactions and gives the students the experience of working on multiple reactions and various tasks concurrently. A number of the experiments are designed to utilize semi-micro-scale techniques. The students analyze their reaction products by chemical tests, IR, NMR, and GC methods. They also keep a detailed laboratory notebook and turn in short reports along with their products.

The 200-level organic chemistry sequence consists of a lecture class, CHEM 270 and a laboratory class CHEM 271. These classes can be taken at the same time, or the students can elect to take the laboratory experience after the lecture portion. The topics covered in the lecture and laboratory are very similar to that covered in the 300-level sequence, only the depth of coverage for individual topics is somewhat less than that of the 300-level sequence. Biochemistry I (CHEM 451) is also required of the Secondary Major.

Biochemistry I (CHEM 451) is currently required of the Secondary Major. EMU recently created a more appropriate one-semester biochemistry course for the Secondary Major and the Secondary Minor, CHEM 351. In this biochemistry class, the students are prepared to teach many of the “hot” topics in this quickly evolving field. These topics include biologically important compounds (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.), enzymes (uses, kinetics, etc.) and metabolism. This fall the EMU Chemistry Department intends to formally change the Major and Minor so that CHEM 351 is the required biochemistry course.

Electives are offered in a variety of subject areas, and these can be taken in the areas that interest the future teachers. The electives include: Materials Science (CHEM 341), which covers materials and polymer chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 332), which gives an advanced treatment of main group and transition metal chemistry; and Environmental Chemistry (CHEM 415), which provides a global perspective of environmentally important issues in chemistry.

Additionally, the Chemistry Department offers a number of independent research opportunities. These allow the future teachers to gain first hand knowledge of working on an independent research project. If they elect to take one of these research experiences, then they will be prepared to describe the excitement of hands-on research to their future students. For example, Dr. Kolopajlo has underway research opportunities in environmental chemistry where chemical education majors and minors have an opportunity to learn wet chemical techniques for the analysis of common pollutions in streams and rivers (here in Michigan). Graduates of the program may then utilize these techniques to educate future high school students.

Throughout the program, and especially in advance laboratories and independent research, the Chemistry Department stresses the importance of academic honesty, scientific ethics, independent thinking, laboratory skills, and formal report writing. Attention to these topics in our program prepares the future teachers to understand them when they begin dealing with students.
The following has been mentioned before and is repeated here for completeness:

There are other required classes outside of the Chemistry Department that are essential for the preparation of the students in both the Secondary Major and Secondary Minor. These classes include CURR 305 (Curriculum and Methods: Secondary), EDPS 322 (Human Development and Learning), SOFD 328 (Schools in a Multicultural Society), and PYS 325 (Methods of Teaching the Physical Sciences), which are required in the Secondary Major (and are taken by students on the Secondary Minor as part of their Secondary Major requirements). Additionally, the student teaching experience (which requires pre-student teaching field experiences of over 100 clock hours as well) is structured to prepare the students to teach in their content area. As these are outside the Chemistry Department, descriptions of these activities are deferred to their respective departments (note: some of this information can be found in the matrix, Section 7).