ERIC ED475485: The Status of Chemistry in Two-Year Colleges: Results from a Survey of Chemistry Departments.

21 Pages·2003·0.32 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 475 485
SE 067 773
AUTHOR
Ryan, Mary Ann; Wesemann, Jodi L.; Boese, Janet M.;
Neuschatz, Michael
The Status of Chemistry in Two-Year Colleges: Results from a
TITLE
Survey of Chemistry Departments.
American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
INSTITUTION
2003-00-00
PUB DATE
NOTE
19p.
AVAILABLE FROM
American Chemical Society, 1155 16th Street NW, Washington,
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Research (143)
EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Chemistry; Curriculum Development; Higher Education;
*Science Instruction; Science Teachers; *Two Year Colleges
ABSTRACT
In the fall of 2001, the American Chemical Society (ACS)
conducted a survey of two-year college chemistry departments to obtain basic
data on chemistry faculty and chemistry courses taught at college. A
questionnaire sent to appropriate representatives (department chairs, program
heads, or deans) from 1195 campuses generated a 77% response rate. The survey
results indicate that chemistry is taught in departments that vary widely in
size but that 28% of two-year college campuses offering chemistry have only
one chemistry instructor. Overall, 59% of faculty hold full-time positions
and 41% have part-time status. The retention of full-time chemistry faculty,
96% of whom are tenured or tenure-track, is fairly high. The representation
of women overall is 32%, with the distribution of female faculty among the
various ranks closely corresponding to that of the male faculty. Most of the
chemistry courses taught are traditional courses such as General Chemistry
(41%), Introductory Chemistry for Allied Health majors (29%), General Organic
Chemistry(11%), and Chemistry in Society or a similar course (6%). This
project, modeled after a similar project by the American Institute of Physics
(AIP) that focused on physics in two-year colleges, was conducted in
collaboration with AIP.
(Author/KHR)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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to
The Status of Chemistry in Two-Year
Colleges: Results from a Survey of
Chemistry Departments
Mary Ann Ryan, Jodi L. Wesemann, Janet M. Boese
American Chemical Society, Education and International Activities Division
Michael Neuschatz
American Institute of Physics, Statistical Research Center
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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Office of Educational Research and Improvement
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official OERI position or policy.
'T3 EST COPY AM L.A3LE
Colleges:
The Status of Chemistry in Two-Year
Results from a Survey of Chemistry
Departments
4).
copyright © 2003 American Chemical Society
Education and International Activities Division
American Chemical Society
1155 Sixteenth St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
For more information, contact:
ACS Department of Higher Education
1-800-227-5558, ext. 4587
2
3
Table of Contents
4
Summary
4
Introduction
5
ACS Involvement in Two-Year College Chemistry
6
Overall Plan for the Study
7
Response to the Survey
7
Survey Results
7
Findings on Faculty
12
Findings on Chemistry Programs
13
Findings on Courses
14
Conclusions
14
Future Work: Plans for a Comprehensive Survey of Faculty
15
Authors
15
Acknowledgments
15
References and Notes
17
Appendix A. ACS 2001 Survey of Two-Year College Chemistry Programs
3
Summary
conducted a survey of two-year
In the fall of 2001, the American Chemical Society (ACS)
faculty and chemistry courses
college chemistry departments to obtain basic data on chemistry
representatives (department chairs,
taught at the colleges. A questionnaire sent to appropriate
generated a 77% response rate. The survey results
program heads, or deans) on 1195 campuses
size but that 28% of two-year
indicate that chemistry is taught in departments that vary widely in
instructor. Overall, 59% of faculty
college campuses offering chemistry have only one chemistry
of full-time chemistry
hold full-time positions and 41% have part-time status. The retention
representation of women
faculty, 96% of whom are tenured or tenure-track, is fairly high. The
the various ranks closely
overall is 32%, with the distribution of female faculty among
taught are traditional
corresponding to that of the male faculty. Most of the chemistry courses
Introductory Chemistry for Allied Health majors (29%),
courses: General Chemistry (41%),
similar course (6%). If funding
General Organic Chemistry (11%), and Chemistry in Society or a
this initial survey will be used
is obtained for a second, more extensive survey, the results from
from faculty. This project, being modeled after a similar
as the basis for gathering detailed data
physics in two-year colleges
project by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) that focused on
(1), was conducted in collaboration with AIP.
Introduction
higher education system.
Two-year colleges represent an important component within the U.S.
have evolved to fulfill a
Since their establishment in the early 1900s (2), two-year colleges
students to transfer to
number of needs. Currently, science programs at two-year colleges prepare
scientifically literate citizens.
four-year institutions, establish careers as technicians, and become
locations, two-year colleges are
With their open admissions policies, low tuition, and convenient
Given the fact that nearly
accessible to many minorities, women, and returning students (2, 3).
and that 58% of these
45% of students pursuing higher education attend two-year colleges
educational institutions
students are women and 26% are underrepresented minorities (4), these
engineering, and technology
have been highlighted as ideal venues for expanding the science,
of Women and
(SET) workforce. The Congressional Commission on the Advancement
recommended
Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development
education at two-year
"comprehensive and systemic institutional changes to strengthen SET
into four-year
colleges and to facilitate transition of SET students from two-year colleges
colleges" (5).
essential for
Information about the status of chemical education at two-year colleges is
science education
initiating and assessing such institutional changes. Yet, for all the data on
comprehensive effort to map the
gathered in recent years, there has never been any systematic or
the nation's almost 2000 two-year college
scope and substance of chemistry instruction at
little is known about the demographics, background,
campuses. Apart from anecdotal reports,
chemistry faculty. Equally little
and professional activities of the thousands of two-year college
practices utilized, faculty
is known about the types of courses that are taught, the instructional
with other colleagues
perceptions of students, and the connections that faculty have established
in industry and academe.
4
For more than a decade, the chemical education community has sought the reliable
information such a survey would provide. Partners in Progress, a 1992 report of a National
technology,
Science Foundation (NSF) workshop on the role of professional societies in science,
engineering, and mathematics education in two-year colleges, included the following in its
recommendations: "The American Chemical Society should conduct baseline studies on science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics issues at two-year colleges including curricula,
faculty, definition of scholarship, and facilities and resources" (6). This charge mirrored a call to
Education and
all disciplines for baseline information. Members of ACS's Division of Chemical
valuable
ACS staff concurred that a survey of chemistry in the two-year colleges would provide
of
information. Plans for such a study were put into place, and ACS resources for the first phase
initial
the project became available in 2001. The survey data reported in this study represent an
effort to gather basic information in response to these needs.
ACS Involvement in Two-Year College
Chemistry
for
ACS's involvement in two-year colleges dates back to the 1960s, when nationwide programs
it was then called, began.
two-year colleges and the Committee on Technician Activities, as
colleges (7),
Since then, ACS has played a leadership role by compiling guidelines for two-year
of
providing outreach and consulting programs (8-11), and facilitating the establishment
technical
chemical technology programs (12-20). As part of its commitment to technicians and
education, ACS also established a Chemical Technicians Division in 1991.
the
The ACS document Guidelines for Chemistry and Chemical Technology Programs in
Study
Two-Year Colleges (7a) was first published in 1970. In 1984, the ACS Task Force for the
(8) that
of Chemistry Education in the United States published a report entitled Tomorrow
recommended revising the guidelines (7b) and establishing an ACS approval service for
chemical technology programs (12). To set the framework for implementing these
recommendations, ACS held an invitational conference in 1985 on Critical Issues in Two-Year
in
College Chemistry, producing a report by the same name (9). Several years later, also
conference was held to discuss issues and make
response to Tomorrow, another invitational
recommendations related to two-year/four-year college articulation in chemistry (10).
with
ACS efforts in the area of chemical technology programs have been leveraged
of Education
federal funding. In the mid-1990s, with financial support from the U.S. Department
industry
(13), ACS developed the Voluntary Industry Standards (14), which codified the skills
sought in chemical technicians. With support from NSF, a two-year high school science
technology program, Science in a Technical World (15), and educational materials for two-year
is using NSF funding to support and enhance
programs were developed (16). Currently, ACS
development
chemical technician education at the national level (17). Grant activities include the
of a national clearinghouse of information and resources related to chemical-based technician
education (18), an online database of updated Voluntary Industry Standards (19), materials to
for
assist with the professional development of chemistry faculty (20), and outreach materials
two-year colleges with chemical technology programs (18).
5
Overall Plan for the Study
need for more
To build on its past involvement with two-year college chemistry and address the
nationwide survey of
information in this important area of chemical education, ACS planned a
extensive NSF-funded
two-year colleges. ACS was aware that in 1996 AIP had carried out an
Because of AlP's experience on this earlier project,
survey of physics in two-year colleges (1).
college chemistry. It was
ACS sought to collaborate with AIP on a parallel study of two-year
for ACS, supplementing
clear that AIP's Statistical Research Center could be an effective partner
collection. AIP also
the expertise and resources available at ACS while offering models for data
do this
wished to update its data on physics in the two-year colleges and planned to
simultaneously with the ACS study.
study of
ACS adapted the two-phase model successfully used by AIP for its 1996
chairs or other
physics. The plan was to first conduct a survey of chemistry department
This survey,
appropriate representatives in all two-year colleges that offer chemistry courses.
data on both faculty and
funded by ACS and AIP, would make it possible to gather some basic
for the second phasean in-depth survey of
programs. It would also lay the groundwork
ask for detailed
individual faculty. The faculty survey, for which funding is being sought, would
for instruction
information on academic and work experience, instructional practices, resources
and descriptions of
and professional development, opinions about the adequacy of resources,
students' characteristics.
A), was designed
The departmental survey form, a one-page questionnaire (see Appendix
to elicit data on
the number of chemistry faculty at each college,
full-time or part-time status,
the number of sections taught per term,
the highest degree earned,
tenured/permanent or temporary status,
gender,
the longevity of appointments,
faculty turnover, and
the types of chemistry courses taught in each department in the fall term.
questionnaire and provided
A group of two-year college chemistry leaders reviewed the
the questions clearly
feedback about whether it requested appropriate information and whether
conveyed the type of information needed (21).
In planning the study, care was taken to develop a complete list of two-year campuses.
colleges existed
According to the American Association of Community Colleges, 1163 two-year
which can include
in the United States in 2001. This list, however, refers to school systems,
between campuses in the same
several campuses. To fully capture the differences that often exist
each campus was assessed separately.
system, the list used for the survey was expanded so that
in the AIP
The list of campuses surveyed was developed and updated from that used
1996 Survey of Two-Year College Physics Programs. Of the 1785 two-year college campuses on
by 81 campuses
the initial list, 93 had since closed or merged. This decrease was largely offset
two-thirds)
that had opened. Of the 1773 campuses currently in existence, 1195 (approximately
offered chemistry. In comparison, 1072 campuses offered physics (22).
6
Response to the Survey
college campuses that
The appropriate program heads, chairs, or deans on the 1195 two-year
2001 semester. The response
offered chemistry received the survey questionnaire during the fall
from 916 campuses (455 responded to the paper
rate was 77%, with direct responses obtained
follow-up, and 316 submitted data online in response to e-
survey, 145 responded to telephone
of the entire list of campuses offering
mail queries). To ensure that these data were representative
obtained from their websites.
chemistry, partial information on 208 other campuses (17%) was
included in the formal data
Since this information was not from official responses, it was not
with the findings from
analysis. However, the information was consistent in almost every respect
only 77%, the
the campuses that returned the surveys. So while the official response rate was
of the two-year college
results accurately reflect the main characteristics of at least 94%
chemistry programs nationwide.
Survey Results
and chemistry courses offered
Findings on faculty, program size, retirements and other turnover,
below. In some cases, data from the parallel
at two-year colleges in fall 2001 are presented
(22).
physics survey conducted by A1P are mentioned for comparison purposes
Findings on Faculty
Number of faculty
that responded to the survey.
A total of 3364 faculty teach chemistry at the 916 campuses
departments and
Adding in the data collected from the websites of 208 non-responding
size was available, the
generalizing to the 6% of schools for which no data on department
in fall 2001 is estimated to be
number of chemistry faculty in the nation's two-year colleges
during the same semester, indicated
4300. A similar analysis from the physics survey, carried out
(22).
that 2600 faculty taught that discipline at two-year colleges
(2540) had full-time
Of the approximately 4300 chemistry faculty, an estimated 59%
appointments. The remaining 41% (1760) were teaching part time.
Course loads
taught per faculty in the fall 2001
The survey requested the number of chemistry sections
shows the distribution for full- and part-time
semester, excluding laboratory sections. Figure 1
faculty was 2.1 non-laboratory
faculty. The overall mean for all two-year college chemistry
number of sections for full-
sections per semester. Table 1 includes data showing that the mean
time faculty was 2.7; for part-time faculty, the mean was 1.3.
do not reflect the
Although the data on number of chemistry sections taught per semester
considered. For one thing,
high teaching loads at two-year colleges (23), several factors must be
loads for science
laboratory sections, which may constitute a significant portion of teaching
planned faculty survey)
faculty, were intentionally excluded. A more detailed survey (such as the
is because departments
would be needed to accurately capture data on laboratory courses. This
laboratories are
and faculty themselves count and handle laboratories differently. In some cases,
7
8
in other cases, they are not. On some
listed as separate companion courses to lecture classes;
associated with one lecture section, and on others, several smaller
campuses, several labs are
Given the range of possibilities, the one-page
classes may come together to share one lab time.
of non-laboratory courses,
questionnaire to departments in this survey requested only the number
which could be identified without ambiguity.
reported course loads do
Also, because of the way in which the information was gathered,
of chemistry and do not reflect any time
not include any courses taught outside the discipline
the campuses only offered one chemistry
spent on administrative duties. The fact that 7% of
that chemistry faculty
section in the fall while 4% had only a single part-time instructor suggests
perhaps math or physics. Once again, the survey planned for
are teaching courses in other areas,
breadth of faculty teaching
the second phase of the project will shed more light on the full
assignments and administrative responsibilities.
in the fall 2001 semester,
Figure 1. The number of chemistry sections taught per faculty member
excluding laboratory sections, comparing full- and part-time faculty.
80%
76%
Full-Time Faculty
Part-Time Faculty
70%
60%
50%
40%
33%
30%
30%
16%
16%
20%
10%
4%
2%
1%
1%
0%
6+
4
5
3
2
Number of Sections per Faculty
Note: One percent of part-time faculty taught four or more courses.
Comparison of full- and part-time faculty
full-time positions, and 41%
As noted above, 59% of chemistry faculty at two-year colleges held
different from the situation for academic chemists overall.
were employed part time. This is quite
ChemCensus 2000,
According to a special report on the academic chemists surveyed in the ACS
postdoctoral fellows,
87.7% were employed full time and only 4.3% were part time, 6.2% were
Two-year college chemistry faculty, however, are
and the remainder were unemployed
(24).
other disciplines. Overall, only 35% of all
more fortunate in this regard than their colleagues in
(25).
faculty at public two-year colleges held full-time positions in the fall of 1999
8
9
The high percentage of part-time chemistry faculty at two-year colleges raises concerns
departments operate. Yet when the
about the climate in which courses are taught and chemistry
non-laboratory
fact that 76% (approximately 1340) of the part-time faculty only taught one
that reliance on part-
chemistry course (see Figure 1) is taken into account, it does not appear
departmental basis,
time faculty is excessive overall. The situation must be examined on a
part-time faculty to teach
however, to determine whether a campus is hiring a large number of
the teaching load. The more comprehensive survey
one course each, rather than consolidating
of these part-time
planned for the second part of this project will investigate whether many
full-time
faculty teach a large number of laboratory or non-chemistry courses or hold other
positions and only want to teach one course.
chemistry
A Ph.D. or Ed.D. degree had been obtained by 53% of the tenured/permanent
colleges.
faculty, 59% of the tenure-track faculty, and 43% of the temporary faculty at two-year
faculty (54%) had earned
As shown in Table 1, a higher percentage of the full-time chemistry
1% of the part-time
Ph.D.s or Ed.D.s, compared to the part-time chemistry faculty (42%). About
from those
chemistry faculty had not yet earned a graduate degree. These numbers differ
AA-granting institutions
obtained in ChemCensus 2000, where 60.8% of all chemistry faculty at
faculty in the
had Ph.D.s, but the difference may be due to the smaller sample size of 803
ChemCensus study (24).
college
Table 1 also compares the employment status of full- and part-time two-year
78% were
chemistry faculty. Almost all full-time faculty had long-term employment options;
part-time
tenured/permanent, and 18% were tenure-track. Only 4% were temporary. Among
tenure-track.
faculty, virtually all (96%) were temporary; 3% were tenured, and 1% were
positions in fall
The percentage of two-year college chemistry faculty who held tenured
faculty in 1998-99
2001 (78%) is slightly higher than that reported for all two-year college
The fact that 96% of the
(71.7%) and much higher than at four-year institutions (62.3%) (26).
that two-year
full-time chemistry faculty are tenured, permanent, or tenure-track suggests
comprehensive survey
colleges are committed to maintaining quality chemistry faculty. A more
offering job security,
will make it possible to identify what steps institutions are taking, beyond
to recruit and retain chemistry faculty.
during the fall 2001
Table 1. Comparison of full- and part-time chemistry faculty in two-year colleges
semester.
Years working at
C
Temporary
Tenure-
Tenured/
Ph.D. or
Course load a
campus
track '
Permanent `
Ed.D.'
(mean)
mean
median
12.6
4%
10
18%
78%
54%
Full time
2.7 b
6.2
4
96%
1%
3%
42%
Part time
1.3 b
a Chemistry sections excluding laboratory sections.
b Overall mean for faculty (full time and part time) = 2.1 non-laboratory courses.
Percentages are based on the number of faculty of the specified gender.