An Evolutionary Approach to Nanoscience inthe Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum atJames Madison University

摘要

We describe a model used for seeding nanoscience topicsthroughout the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at JamesMadison University (JMU). An overview of the evolutionarychanges to the chemistry curriculum as a result of thisprogram will be presented. Lecture topics in general,inorganic, organic, materials science and physical chemistryhave been added or improved and laboratories for general,organic and physical, have been developed and implemented.A new general physical science course for nonscience majorsand an upper-division majors lecture-laboratory course called,"Science of the Small: An Introduction to the Nanoworld"have been developed and will be broadly described.Nanoscience topics from the current scientific literature havebeen introduced into materials science, physical chemistry lab,and literature and seminar courses. We will further describehow a new series of vertically integrated laboratoryexperiments exploring the properties of supramolecularmicelles are being used to introduce nanoscience into severaldifferent courses. In addition, we will discuss how this project,in particular the Science of the Small course, has helped tocatalyze "top-down" thinking about seeding a range ofinterdisciplinary topics throughout the undergraduatechemistry curriculum. Finally, we address how thisevolutionary approach can be used by non-experts to begin toseed nanoscience topics into the undergraduate chemistrycurriculum.