Chemistry

The faculty and students in the Chemistry Department form a learning community, dedicated to achieving the following goals:

Learning Goals

1. Each student should learn sufficient chemistry to serve her or him well in life after Kenyon.
2. Each student should learn to write well by being required to answer essay exam questions, write term papers, problem set answer sheets, laboratory and research reports, all critically evaluated by faculty.
3. Each student should learn effective oral communication skills by being encouraged to ask questions in all classes and converse frequently with faculty, and required to make extended oral presentations in more advanced classes as well as in the departmental Senior Capstone.
4. Each student should become skilled at formulating and solving problems, both qualitative and quantitative, through the working of problem sets and exam questions and by engagement with laboratory and research projects.
5. Each student should learn to access, evaluate and use information from computerized information sources.
6. Each student should be encouraged to relate chemistry to other areas of inquiry and knowledge by enrolling in courses in other sciences, the fine arts, social sciences and humanities.

These goals are achieved, and our learning community is sustained, by small classes, close interaction among students and faculty and an atmosphere of mutual respect and collegiality.

Measures and Feedback

I. General Education STATUS

1. Chemistry Readiness Test and Survey. Identify skill set of incoming first-years and use for advising on course selection. Also use to compare performance to success indicators.
2. Introductory Chemistry Assessment. Standard 30-question set to assess introductory chemistry skills and content.
3. Organic Chemistry Assessment. Standard 30-question set to assess introductory chemistry skills and content, and/or the ACS Organic Chemistry exam.

II. Majors

1. Core Content Assessment. Subject tests with standard 10-questions for Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Instrumental Methods.
2. Senior Seminar papers. Primary Trait Analysis for written communication and information literacy skills.
3. Senior Capstone talks. Primary Trait Analysis for oral communication and process skills.
4. Comprehensive exam

III. Research

1. CHEM 375/376 final reports/talks/posters. Primary Trait Analysis for research process skills and oral communication skills.
2. Honors theses and talks. Primary Trait Analysis for research process skills and oral communication skills

IV. Program

1. Enrollment patterns. Monitor enrollment trends, attrition rates, numbers of majors to better inform curriculum planning and course scheduling
2. Majors meeting. Obtain feedback from current and prospective majors on issues important to them.
3. Post-graduate admissions data. Track GRE and MCAT scores, graduate school and medical school admissions, and student national awards and fellowships to assess how we can best prepare our graduates for life after Kenyon.
4. Alumni survey. Regularly conduct a survey of recent alumni on their perception of how their chemistry education prepared them for success in graduate school, medical school or their career choice.