ERIC Number: EJ1279751
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Connecting Chemistry to Social Justice in a Seminar Course for Chemistry Majors
Journal of Chemical Education, v97 n12 p4316-4320 Dec 2020
Undergraduate chemistry majors should be encouraged to consider chemistry-based solutions to issues that impact their daily lives as well as the lives of poor and marginalized populations worldwide. Some issues that disproportionately influence historically disadvantaged populations are also directly related to or could be impacted by chemistry. This idea of addressing social justice with chemistry is not often addressed in chemistry curricula but has recently gained importance with students and instructors. In response to this challenge and need, a seminar course was developed to assist chemistry majors in connecting chemistry concepts to social justice issues. The seminar course aimed at teaching scientific research and communication skills but thematically added social justice concepts while focusing on chemistry advances that relate to, for example, environmental racism, forensic chemistry, opioid addiction, women's health, and food disparities. Students in this course demonstrated an understanding of recent chemistry research while also expressing compelling connections to social justice challenges.
Descriptors: Chemistry, College Science, Undergraduate Students, Seminars, Social Justice, Science and Society, Social Problems, Majors (Students), Disadvantaged, Poverty, Disproportionate Representation, Scientific Research, Research Skills, Communication Skills, Skill Development, Problem Solving
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A