Completing Our Education. Green Chemistry in the Curriculum

Christopher Kitchens
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332
Reagan Charney
Department of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0400
David Naistat
Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146
Jennifer Farrugia
Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
Andres Clarens
Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Adam O'Neil
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Carmen Lisowski
Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
Birgit Braun
Department for Chemical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
J. Chem. Educ., 2006, 83 (8), p 1126
DOI: 10.1021/ed083p1126
Publication Date (Web): August 1, 2006

Abstract

This Commentary resulted from a series of conversations between an international group of chemistry and chemical engineering graduate students from the 3rd Annual ACS Green Chemistry Summer School, who reflected on their undergraduate education and discussed 1) the areas of green chemistry that were often neglected, 2) the value of integrating green chemistry principles in today's curricula, and 3) strategies educators might use to incorporate green chemistry in their classrooms. We have outlined areas of scientific knowledge that we believe to be of vital importance for the education of future chemists and engineers, as well as graduates of other disciplines including public relations, business, and public policy. Green Chemistry has the potential to recruit innovative and energetic students, repair a damaged public image, and bolster the long-term prosperity of the chemical sector on the domestic and international scale. Instead of eliminating existing courses, we argue that teaching traditional chemistry in a new way is the most effective way to achieve these ends. A new series of teaching principles and tools necessary to implement this change are discussed with emphasis on the long range impacts of a chemistry education that is inherently green.

Keywords (Audience):

First-Year Undergraduate / General

Keywords (Domain):

Curriculum

Keywords (Feature):

Commentary

Keywords (Subject):

Green Chemistry
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  • Received: August 03, 2009

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