Physical chemistry curriculum semester

This chapter will describe how the physical chemistry curriculum at Creighton University was revised to include a one-semester overview of physical chemistry with laboratory, followed by elective courses in specific areas of physical chemistry. The course is preceded by a mathematics course designed specifically to prepare chemistry students for the mathematics encountered in a rigorous physical chemistry course. 

Fitting Physical Chemistry into a Crowded Curriculum A Rigorous One-Semester Physical Chemistry Course with Laboratory... 

We have had only two graduating classes complete the full series of physical chemistry courses, including the electives. In those two classes combined, 50 % of the students took more than one physical chemistry elective and two students in the class of 2005 took all three electives that were offered during that year. Based on the number of courses taken we conclude that most of our students are getting more physical chemistry with the new curriculum than they were with the traditional two-semester sequence. 

We are also pleased that the ACS Committee on Professional Training has recently endorsed the idea of one-semester Foundations courses (5). We hope that our curriculum, as we continue to refine and improve it, will serve as a model for how these foundational courses (in physical chemistry and other subdisciplines of chemistry) might be constructed. 

The series of lectures cover scientific programming and an introduction to numerical algorithms (5th semester), the programming of physical and chemical problems with an introduction to computer-simulation (6th semester), and an overview over the various applications of computers in chemistry (7th semester) (Table 2). This program comprises a one-semester laboratory course (20 hours a week 14 weeks total) where the students work on practical assignments. Currently about 25% of the students select Computer-Based Chemistry as their optional specialization. For more information about the curriculum of the department of chemistry of ETH Zurich see http //www,chem.ethz.ch/D-CHEM-Department.html... 

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