Combining Chemistry and College Writing: A New Model for an Honors Undergraduate Chemistry Course

Authors

Donna Chamely-Wilk, Florida Atlantic UniversityFollow
Jeffrey Galin, Florida Atlantic University
Krista Kasdorf, Florida Atlantic University
Jerome Haky, Florida Atlantic University

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in Honors in Practice, volume 5. Copyright 2009 National Collegiate Honors Council.

Abstract

Faculty in the Departments of Chemistry and English at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have designed and implemented an innovative, writing intensive, advanced, second-semester chemistry course combined with a laboratory component that satisfies both second semester General Chemistry and College Writing criteria. This unusual configuration differs from typical honors chemistry courses because of its “writing to learn” approach to teaching indepth scientific content, the nature of research, and research methods. The opportunity to develop this course emerged from a collaborative relationship between our institution’s Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program and our chemistry department.