Fall 1998 CONFCHEM Switching Students on to Science

Chemistry Outside In
Cedric Mumford

Summary:
The Science Access Course at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff grew to become one of the largest and most successful in Britain and succeeded in helping about 150 students gain entry to science-based courses at universities. The article describes the syllabus and methods used in convincing terrified students that anyone can learn, and do, chemistry provided each step in learning is made small enough. The key to this success lay in opening up the subject by starting with a Lego-type approach to the molecules and ions of well-known compounds before digging deeper into atomic structure and bonding. This was how Dalton and his successors opened up the subject to understanding, so why start chemistry courses with atomic structure? It is like opening up someone's personality by starting with the buttons on their clothes!