"Teaching Computing in Existing Laboratory Courses at CSUSB"

Abstract:

This paper describes the evolution of computing in the chemistry department at a racially diverse comprehensive university, serving a large number of transfer and commuter students. Dissatisfaction with available computing facilities led a core group of faculty in the department to seek funding for establishing a networked departmental computing lab. In the process a rational plan for incorporating computing for mathematical and molecular modeling and communication throughout the curriculum was developed and implemented. By developing materials and providing formal and informal training, we enabled the less technically sophisticated faculty and adjunct instructors to use computing in their teaching. Computer applications are now embedded throughout the laboratory curriculum, including in-service courses such as "Chemistry in the Classroom", which targets pre-K-6 teachers. The computer lab is in high demand, and the department is committed to maintaining and upgrading the facility.
 

Opening remarks:

Most of you are using computers in the chemistry curriculum, and many are reporting their use. For example, a Google search run August 4, 2004 using the words "computing in the chemistry curriculum" scored about 23,000 hits (albeit many are far a field from the searcher's intent). More precisely, a search of the Journal of Chemical Education Online index [1] on the same day using the keyword "computer" found 1203 records. You may then be wondering what is unique about this paper, and whether you should read it. In fact, there few published studies [2] of the scope of this conference, computing across the curriculum. This paper describes the unique evolution of computing in chemistry at CSUSB.
 

• Background
• The computer laboratory
• Computers in the chemistry majors' curriculum
• Other curricular enhancements
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Continued evolution and future
• Endnotes

Background

"Well-prepared students should emerge from a program in chemistry with . . . experience with computers, including an ability to use word processors, spreadsheets, numerical and nonnumerical algorithms, simulations and computation, data acquisition, and databases for information handling and retrieval . . ." ACT-CPT[3]
 
 

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Professional Training has developed guidelines and procedures for an ACS approved program.[3] In addition to the competencies outlined in the quote above, the document discusses the use of online databases for searching the chemical literature, and recommends using computer workstations for computational chemistry and molecular modeling. Zielisnki and Swift [4] name a number of competencies we should expect of chemistry graduates, such as word processing (including creating chemical structures and equations), scientific graphing, mathematical modeling and visualization, computer-instrument interfacing, and accessing materials from the WWW.
 
 

Chartered in 1960, the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) is the sole public, comprehensive, regional university in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties of Southern California.  As a medium sized campus of the 23-campus California State University system, the University offers more than 50 traditional baccalaureate and masters degree programs, with an emphasis on preparing K-12 teachers. The University serves almost 17,000 students from a service area extending over 29,000 square miles from the Arizona border to the Los Angeles county line. In the last decade, the area population has increased over 60 percent to a total of three million residents, where no racial or ethnic group is a majority. Our campus is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution.

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The Department of Chemistry at CSUSB (recently renamed The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)  is comprised of twelve permanent faculty members and three full time support staff. Students enroll in one of four major tracks, with emphases in either chemistry or biochemistry at the BA and BS levels. The BS-ACS degree is certified by the American Chemical Society. The department offers a rigorous curriculum involving both teaching and research. Students majoring in chemistry mirror the diverse demography of the University service area. In the 2003-04 AY more than 37% of declared chemistry majorswere classified as underrepresented minorities (see Figure 1 ), and more than 60% were women. Up to half of our students begin their studies at other institutions, primarily area community colleges. In the past six years, our department has graduated a total of 108 chemistry bachelor degree candidates, of which ten are now teaching in area secondary schools, 16 entered MS or Ph.D. programs in the sciences, and ten entered medical, dental or veterinary school. The balance works in industry or government.
 

In 1997 the computing facilities in our department were abysmal, greatly limiting what could be accomplished in our courses. A handful of faculty hand-me-down computers were located in the corners of labs, a closet, and an empty office with a patchwork of software for student use. Many were not connected to a network or to the Internet. Other computing facilities on campus were not suitable, as they provided limited access, an inability to load chemistry-specific applications, and were located remote from our "wet" laboratories and faculty offices. Our departmental Assessment Plan, [5] developed in the mid-1990's, included as a goal ". . . to provide students with the opportunities to practice effective scientific computer, written and oral communications skills". We were not then meeting this goal, particularly in the area of computing.
 

To address the growing gulf between our reality and our ideal for student computing, four chemistry faculty representing a breadth of sub-disciplines established a computer committee (See Table 1). We decided to seek outside funding in order to leverage local resources and space.

The computer committee has been instrumental in all aspects of this project. The four original members worked together to create a vision for computing in the department. This included addressing what we, and others,^3,4 believed to be core competencies, defining which courses in the curriculum would be used to introduce and build upon computer skills, and devising a plan for implementation and evaluation of learning. Much of this planning was accomplished while preparing a proposal for the NSF-ILI program in 1997, titled A Unified Plan for Mathematical and Molecular Modeling Data Analysis and Chemical Communication in the Laboratory Curriculum. [6] After funding was awarded, the committee worked to locate a room and oversee physical modifications and furnishings, purchase hardware and software, set up the computers and the network, and develop and implement the proposed curricular changes. The committee continues to meet regularly, in order to address ongoing laboratory issues, monitor computer use in the curriculum, and plan for the future.
 
 

Table 1: Faculty on the Chemistry Department Computer Committee

The computer laboratory

All workstations are equipped with the software listed in black in Table 2. Single copies of specialty software, listed in red in Table 2, are used primarily by research and upper division students. Software was chosen based on faculty experience and preference, as well as the availability of campus or CSU system site licenses or discounts. In several cases competing software packages were evaluated prior to making the purchases.
 
 

Table 2: Software applications available in chemistry computer laboratory

Application	Use in Courses		Vendor/Source
Microsoft Word	Preparing laboratory reports; course, seminar and research papers		Microsoft
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet/graphing of laboratory data; simple mathematical modeling		Microsoft
Microsoft PowerPoint	Preparing presentations for senior seminar, research presentations and posters		Microsoft
Microsoft QuickBasic	BASIC programming		Microsoft
Kaleidagraph	Scientific graphing of laboratory data		http://www.synergy.com/
PCSpartan Pro	Molecular mechanics, quantum mechanics calculations; molecule visualization		http://www.wavefun.com/
Labworks	Work with data from LabWorks probes; build methods		No longer available (formerly Bartlett and Jones)
CS ChemDraw Ltd	Chemical structure drawing		http://www.cambridgesoft.com/
Internet Explorer/Netscape Navigator	Internet Browsers		Microsoft and Netscape
Browser plug-ins: Java, Marvinsketch, Chime, Quicktime, Shockwave, Flash, RealPlayer, Acrobat Reader		To view sometimes dynamic and interactive web content	Various
Axum	High end scientific graphing		http://www.adeptscience.co.uk/
Macromodel	Molecular mechanics and dynamics		http://www.schrodinger.com/
Qsite	Substrate binding studies		http://www.schrodinger.com/
GaussianW	Computational chemistry package		http://www.gaussian.com/
GAMESS-US	Computational chemistry package		http://www.msg.ameslab.gov/GAMESS/GAMESS.html
Jaguar	Computational chemistry package		http://www.schrodinger.com/
MOLEKEL	Visualization of computational results		http://pobox.cscs.ch/molekel/
ShelX	Crystallographic data analysis		http://shelx.uni-ac.gwdg.de/
ChemOffice Ultra	High end chemical drawing; 3-D modeling and analysis; chemical database building		http://www.cambridgesoft.com/
GRAMS	Analysis of spectroscopic data		http://www.adeptscience.co.uk/
SPSS	Statistical analysis package		http://www.spss.com/

 

Given the limited size of the available room, and our desire to have students working in pairs in instructional laboratories, we chose a fourteen-workstation configuration in the main lab. This allows us to bring an entire section of a traditional laboratory course (enrollment up to 24 students) into the computer laboratory for guided instruction. A white board has been essential for instructional use, as well as for communicating with computer users, and a calendar is posted on the wall to avoid conflicts between scheduled classes. The satellite lab has proven useful for accommodating individual students during formal instructional sessions in the main computer lab, and for providing additional workstations during the busiest portions of the quarter. In addition, the satellite lab is on the same floor as the physical chemistry wet lab, enabling the instructor to easily cycle between the computer and wet laboratory.
 
 

A networked system, while harder to set up and maintain, maximized our computing resources. Thus we invested in a Windows NT (updated to Windows 2000 Professional) server with large redundant hard drives, and backup capabilities. Each workstation requires password access. This allows control and monitoring of student activity in the lab and on the Internet, while providing each student with central storage space, so that their preferences and files appeared the same regardless of the workstation used. Having a network also enabled us to purchase fewer copies of some specialty software (PCSpartan Pro, ChemDraw, MathCAD). As long as the maximum the number of licenses is not exceeded, these programs can be accessed from any Windows computer in the lab, or in the department. The server vendor helped us set up the network initially, and a series of student assistants (with periodic technical help from campus staff and faculty) have maintained and upgraded the network. We have found it necessary to purchase third party server software to assist maintaining our accounts and computers (see Table 3). Even with this additional software, maintaining, entering, and deleting of lab accounts, occasional "reimaging" (clearing off and reinstalling all software from an image) of machines, and dealing with technical problems, including maintaining antivirus and systems security updates is a labor intensive process. Our department invests more money annually in our computer laboratory student assistant than in the multiple students who prepare chemicals and solutions for our "wet" laboratories (about 120 lab sections per year).
 

Table 3: Auxiliary Server Applications

Product Name	Product Version	What it does	Vendor website
Symantec GhostCast Server	7.5.0.335	Creates workstation "image" that is stored on the server then loaded onto each reformatted workstation	http://www.symantec.com/product/
PrintManager Plus	5.0.0.32	Allows administrator to set printing limits (and monitor printing) for each account	http://www.softwareself.com
UserManagmeNT	5.4, Build 1853	Create, move, delete, audit accounts easily	http://www.tools4ever.com
SpaceGuard SRM	5.2, Build 1053	Monitor and enforce space quotas for accounts	http://www.tools4ever.com
Veritas Backup Exec	8.50	Automatic backup of server to tape	http://www.veritas.com/

Computers in the chemistry majors' curriculum

Table 4: Student use of computer applications in the Chemistry Curriculum

Course/Program

Kaleidagraph (graphing)

MS Word

MS Excel

Computer- Interfaced instruments

PCSpartan Pro (molecular modeling)

ChemDraw Ltd.

Online literature searching

Browser /Chime

LabWorks Stations

MS Basic

MS PowerPoint

Specialty applications

Chem. 215/216 (General Chem.)

X

X

Chem. 245 (Quantitative Analysis)

X

X

X

Chem. 221-223 or 321-323 (Organic Chem.)

X

X

X

X

X

Chem. 436/437/439 (Biochemistry sequence)

X

X

X

X

X

Chem. 455.456 or 451/452 (Physical Chemistry)

X

X

X

X

X

Chem. 475 (Inorganic Chemistry)

X

X

X

X

Chem. 500 (Special Topics in Chemistry)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Chem. 545 (Instrumental Analysis)

X

X

X

X

X

Chem. 590 (Chem. Seminar)

X

X

X

X

X

Research

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

This sequence of applications in the curriculum fosters an evolving sophistication with computer use. As an example, students in general chemistry are expected to prepare laboratory reports with a word processor, and are introduced to scientific graphing using Kaleidagraph. However, sophisticated features such as subscript/superscript, equation building, and pasting graphs into reports are not required. In the subsequent physical chemistry courses students learn to prepare professional reports, incorporating graphs and diagrams in the document, and properly formatting formulas and equations.These skills are further reinforced when preparing a written paper for the Chemistry Seminar class, Special Topics courses, and undergraduate research.
 

Likewise molecular modeling with PCSpartan Pro is also used progressively throughout the curriculum. In organic chemistry students build, set up calculations and view molecules in order to better understand organic structure and reactivity. In physical chemistry they use vibrational analysis to complement an experiment in spectroscopy, and in inorganic chemistry they must build and calculate a structure for ferrocene, to demonstrate an understanding of coordination chemistry. A special topics course in computational chemistry builds on these earlier experiences by providing additional theory, as well as an opportunity for students to execute and present a small research project using PCSpartan Pro. 

Students performing undergraduate research rely heavily on the computing faculties in conducting their projects and reporting the results. This includes using computing in the research (i.e. analyzing experimental data, conducting literature searches, performing computer modeling studies), and in preparing required final reports, as well presentations or posters at campus and professional conferences. For a representative list of recent departmental student presentations, see Appendix 1.
 

A unique feature of our campus is the large number of transfer students entering our program. For example, 26% of student enrolled in physical chemistry in 2003-04 had completed some or all of their lower division coursework elsewhere. Continuing students often assist transfer students in learnng to use the software applications. The "paired student" set up of our instructional sessions is particularly helpful in building this peer teaching environment.
 

Other curricular enhancements

Chemistry 304, Chemistry in the Classroom, is an introductory chemistry course taken by up to 500 future K-8 teachers each year. This course was revised in 1999 to include Internet support and activities. We developed the Chemistry 304 Home Page to provide resources, to both the multiple course instructors, as well as the students/future teachers enrolled in the course. [9]. Three new laboratory activities were developed that introduced course enrollees to chemistry resources on the Internet, while reinforcing course content. [10] These activities would not have been possible without access to the chemistry computer laboratory.
 

Implementation

Evaluation

In accordance with the Chemistry Department Assessment Plan,⁵ we evaluate computer competence in the second quarter physical chemistry laboratory course. Students are expected to modify simple BASIC programs, use quantum mechanics software, employ spreadsheets, perform non-linear curve fitting of experimental data, and submit laboratory reports in a timely manner. As this laboratory relies heavily on computer use, it is expected that students who pass the laboratory portion of the course with a C or better have met the assessment criteria. In the four assessment cycles completed, all students have met this criterion.

Finally, we distribute surveys to graduating seniors in an effort to improve our program. Prior to opening the computer lab, a significant number of respondents cited inadequate computing facilities and instruction as a weakness of the program. Since that time, no respondent has mentioned computing in the chemistry curriculum as an area for improvement.

Continued evolution and future

Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by the NSF ( NSF-ILI Award #9851333) and the College of Natural Sciences at CSUSB. Much appreciation is extended to members of the computer committee, other department faculty, student lab assistants, and college staff in making our program a reality. Special thanks go to John Craig for facilitating the laboratory remodel.