In the Classroom

JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 10 October 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education 1313

Developing Professional Skills in a Third-YearUndergraduate Chemistry Course Offeredin Western Australia

Jeffrey G. Dunn, Robert I. Kagi, and David N. Phillips*School of Applied Chemistry, Curtin University of Technology, P.O. Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6845

One industrial chemistry course aimed at bridging theacademe–industry gap identifies two major threads, namelythe way industry functions and the way industrial chemistsshould act to be most effective (1). Covered are the chemistryof industrial processes, economic considerations, scale-upproblems, marketing, sales and distribution, utilization ofchemicals, product development, and environmental consid-erations of disposal and recycling. A course entitled “Socialand Legal Aspects of Chemistry”, which aims at developingan understanding of societal impact of chemistry and theinterplay between chemical issues and the courts, has beenreported (2). More recently Ashmore (3) and MacFarlane (4)outlined courses stressing communication skills and safety.In his summary of the 7th Biennial Conference on ChemicalEducation (5), Hostettler (6 ) classified its content on thebasis of the chemistry involved, i.e. geochemistry, consumerchemistry, environmental chemistry, biochemistry and health.Selinger (7 ) in his text Chemistry in the Market Place, placesthe emphasis on the consumer product and the chemistryneeded for its understanding, while Atkins (8) outlines howwe should educate chemists for the next millennium by wayof more “real world” content.

We have reported steps taken in this direction in someof the Applied Chemistry degree course at Western Australia’sCurtin University of Technology. There, at second year, studentsare introduced to research through mini-projects, and at

third-year level, to the planning and design of an experimentalprogram (9, 10). Our unit, named “Chemistry and Technol-ogy”, has been developed over 12 years. The unit is presentedin the final semester of our third year and operates for 14weeks at 3 hours per week. It comprises six modules as shownin Table 1. The content of these modules has been selected toreflect employment that our graduates will meet in WesternAustralia. The six modules are to illustrate the diversity ofprofessional skills that industry demands.

The Professional Practice and Consumer Chemistrymodules can be included in most courses. Although the otherfour modules are specific to Western Australia’s needs, theycould be readily modified or replaced to represent other em-ployment circumstances.

The program is taught by lecturers from industry as wellas by staff of the School who have experience in applied in-dustrial chemistry, especially in the mineral and petroleumindustries. The lecturers from industry are invited to presentsections of the Professional Practice module.

Professional Practice

Traditionally students at universities solve problems iso-lated from societal influences of chemistry. In the workplacesuccess often depends not only on understanding chemicalprocesses, but also on identifying society variables and adapt-ing the chemical processes to them. In this module studentswork in small groups and prepare reports that identify the*Corresponding author. Email: iphillip@info.curtin.edu.au.

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In the Classroom

1314 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 75 No. 10 October 1998 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu

role that various interest groups play, for example traditionallandowners, government, unions, and the media. Studentssoon realize that they will have to listen to diverse points ofview, be affected by shifting parameters, often act as com-munity educators, and learn what will not be tolerated, iftheir elegant chemical process is to be accepted by the gen-eral community. The Professional Practice module illustratesthat in modern chemical manufacturing and technology thereare many possible solutions, and rarely is there a single solu-tion that satisfies everyone. The challenge is thus to find notthe right solution, but the best solution.

In our segment “Chemistry and Occupational Hygiene”(11–13), we invite a representative of Worksafe WesternAustralia to address students on legislation that affects thecontrol of chemicals in the laboratory. We discuss MaterialSafety Data Sheets, together with a consolidation of chemicals-handling considerations already met in the course. Studentsbegin to realize that when they become supervisors, it is theywho will assume “Duty of Care”.

The need for chemists to write good reports is wellestablished (14–18). The hours devoted to report writingdiscuss structuring by using excellent, acceptable, and unac-ceptable illustrations. This segment helps with the report ona project they have researched in the laboratory during thefinal semester of the course.

Some students will work in consultancies whose practiceis included in this module. Here we explain professional in-demnity and professional hazards of litigation, and acquaintstudents with the ethics of such a practice (19).

Students are made aware that the laboratories in whichthey will practice upon graduation need to be certified bythe National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA).An invited representative of NATA explains the laboratorycertification process and the accuracy and precision of theresults that are allowed to be published by laboratories.

Consumer Chemistry

The conventional method of teaching consumer chem-istry to students other than chemistry majors is by a series oflectures by an academic on the details of the chemistry ofthe consumer products (20, 21). Our approach is to assign,in the first week of semester, a separate consumer topic toeach student. Students then have 5 weeks in which to re-search their topic and make an oral presentation to theclass. The list below shows typical topics, all representativeof locally manufactured products. Further information on anyof these topics may be obtained from the corresponding author.

Alkyd resin paints Margarine and fat rancidityBeer including proof rating Marketed fresh fruit juicesCar radiator corrosion inhibitors Petrol and its additivesContact lens materials Superphosphate fertilizersDomestic soaps and detergents Swimming pool chemicalsFly sprays White ant treatmentLead acid batteries Weed killers

There are two major aims. The first is to examine the way inwhich chemical principles are used in developing consumergoods and services. Questions posed to students include

• What does the product do?

• What are the nature and properties of the materialupon which the product is used?

• What are the general constituents of the product?

• How do the constituents of the product give the re-quired performance?

• If a newly marketed version of the product becameavailable, how could it be both analyzed and formu-lated?

• Any environmental side effects of the product?

A second aim is to provide practice in written and oralcommunication of technical information. This we achieve inthree ways. While Selinger’s text (7 ) is used as a reference,students are expected to approach industrial companies toobtain up-to-date information. Supermarkets and hardwarestores are useful sources for product labeling information,while government agencies provide the most recent informa-tion on legislation and testing. More recently, access to theInternet has proved another source of useful information.

Every student produces a two-page abstract at thecompletion of the 5-week period using 4 or 5 references. Eachstudent receives a set of the abstracts before the oral presen-tations are made. Each student speaks for 20 minutes, afterwhich there is a 5–10 minute question period. Professionalpresentation standards are expected, including use of over-head transparencies and demonstrations where appropriate.Participation in the question period is strongly encouraged,since it simulates working with colleagues in industry.

All the topics in the list have proved productive. Thetopic “Marketed Fresh Fruit Juices” is typical in that in-formation is available from texts (22, 23), journal articles (24,25), local government (26 ), a local company (27 ), and theInternet (28).

Mineral Chemistry

The mineral processing industry contributes some $12billion to the export earnings of Western Australia. We there-fore cover the chemistry associated with the recovery of metalsfrom their ores in our second year Inorganic Chemistry. Inthis unit we introduce

• in-depth case studies of selected mineral processingindustries

• technology that workers may encounter in a plant• research associated with mineral chemistry

Recovery of gold and nickel from their ores is givenspecial attention. Commercial gold extraction exemplifiesmany unit processes and solids-handling operations and useof flow diagrams. We discuss reasons different routes are used.In earlier units students learn such techniques as scanningelectron microscopy, thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, andFourier transform infrared spectroscopy. However, now indicat-ing roles these techniques play in research, pilot plant, andindustrial scale operations strengthens the value of knowingthese techniques.

Much of the gold in Western Australia is contained inrefractory sulfide minerals, which usually need to be oxidizedby bioleaching or roasting before being leached for goldrecovery. This complexity provides an opportunity to discussfluidized beds (recirculating or conventional) and roasting inrotary kilns, and to demonstrate why each location uses eachtechnology. Industrial crystallization is illustrated using theprocessing of bauxite to alumina at Alcoa of Australia.

In the Classroom

JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 10 October 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education 1315

Industrial Electrochemistry

In Western Australia, the reduction of ilmenite (FeTiO3)by coal utilizes the Becher process (29). This process yields aproduct containing approximately 92% TiO2 with particlesof Fe(0) embedded in TiO2 grains. The Fe(0) is removed byoxidation in aerated ammonium chloride solution. At 80 °C,magnetite (Fe3O4) forms, which is separated from the TiO2magnetically. The formation of the magnetite in preferenceto hematite (α-Fe2O3) or goethite (α-FeOOH) depends onthe correct conditions in solution and is explained by aPourbaix diagram (30), a plot of electrode potential versuspH. By controlling the temperature and aeration rate it ispossible to convert the Fe(0) into the correct oxidized product.This module provides students with an excellent example ofhow to relate theoretical electrochemistry to industrialmineral processing.

As industrial procedures are carried out in more andmore hostile environment, corrosion is of growing concern(31). Corrosion leads to huge direct maintenance and replace-ment costs, together with costs of unplanned shutdowns,product and environmental contamination, and leakage loss.There are large oil fields off the northwest coast of WesternAustralia where corrosion, especially that caused by carbondioxide, is a major concern. The students apply their basicelectrochemistry knowledge to gaining an understanding ofthese mechanisms of corrosion in oil wells and pipelines.Carbon dioxide dissolves in water to produce carbonic acid,which leads to many forms of corrosion damage to oil wellsand pipelines. Electrochemical noise analysis is also intro-duced as an advanced technique for monitoring corrosion.Corrosion rates alter upon the introduction of a corrosioninhibitor, and a demonstration is used to show that electro-chemical noise analysis is directly related to and is a measureof corrosion rates. We introduce a range of corrosion problems,in particular pitting, crevice and stress-cracking corrosion.

Environmental Chemistry

Environmental chemistry is, today, an essential part ofthe chemical curriculum (32). Our “Environmental Chemistry”module concentrates on water quality and in particular, oncontamination of rivers and aquifers. Attention is focused onobtaining and storing representative samples, target analytesset by the United States Environmental Protection Agency,the standard reference materials available from the U.S.National Institute Standards and Testing, and clean-roomtechniques for trace level analysis.

In dealing with aquatic contamination by metals, em-phasis is placed on speciation into inorganic and organic com-ponents, for example, simple ionic tin and butyltin species.Ion selective electrodes are discussed for analysis of a rangeof pollutants. For determining organic sulfides and pesticideresidues, emphasis is placed on instrumental techniques such asgas chromatography, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry,gas chromatography–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,and high-performance liquid chromatography.

Industrial Organic Chemistry

Students entering this unit are so steeped in textbookorganic chemistry that some even believe that ethanol is made

commercially by a Grignard reaction between methyl-magnesium bromide and formaldehyde! This module followsWittcoff (33–35), Wiseman (36 ), and Chenier and Artibee(37 ). It is also used as a vehicle to introduce the notion ofchemicals as commodities where economies of scale are soimportant. The older literature describing the technology ofheavy organic chemicals is contrasted with current articlesillustrating, for example, the trend to use natural gas liquidsas petrochemical feedstocks and the drive to develop processesthat use methane as a feedstock.

The need to teach polymers in undergraduate chemistrycourses has been stressed by Wagener and Ford (38) andMarvel (39). Although we have a segment on polymer chem-istry in the third year of organic chemistry, this professionaldevelopment syllabus includes applied polymer technology,including surface coatings and elastomers.

Assessment

With the exception of the Consumer Chemistry section,our assessment is a mix of examination and assignment (Table1). In the Consumer Chemistry section peer assessment isused for the oral presentation and given equal weighting withthe degree of participation and the quality of the abstract.Peer assessment provides students with the opportunity toact in a professional manner. The Professional Practice andEnvironmental Chemistry sections are assessed by a seriesof assignments; the Industrial Electrochemistry, IndustrialOrganic Chemistry, and Mineral Chemistry sections areassessed by written examination.

Graduate Responses

Thirty graduates of the course, selected at random atknown destinations, who have been employed in industry fora period of 3–9 years, were surveyed as to their perception ofthe role of the “Chemistry and Technology” unit in thecourse. The responses were based on a scale of 1 (StronglyAgree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree). Comments were sought onthe overall unit and each subsection. Twenty-four responseswere received. The scores given by the graduates, togetherwith typical examples of their very positive responses, areshown in Table 2.

The data show that the overall concept of the unit isstrongly supported by our graduates, as too are the subsec-tions, in particular those on Professional Practice, ConsumerChemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Mineral Chem-istry. In addition to these responses, there were useful sug-gestions for future consideration, such as:

Some guest speakers talking about a day in the life of achemist at XYZ company would be beneficial.The Consumer Chemistry section demonstrates thatthere should be more opportunity for public speakingthroughout the course.More emphasis could be placed in the Mineral Chemis-try section, on the bigger picture, such as costing projectsand staffing requirements.I would liked to have seen more of the Mineral Chemistrysection on an industrial scale.

As is to be expected in such a broad unit, some graduatesindicated that not all subsections of the unit were appropriateto their needs.

In the Classroom

1316 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 75 No. 10 October 1998 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu

Conclusions

Our “Chemistry and Technology” unit is most appro-priate for the final semester of undergraduate chemistrybecause it helps prepare students for their careers. A surveyof graduates who have worked in industry for many yearshas shown a high degree of satisfaction with the unit. Theunit is also highly commended by the School’s AdvisoryBoard, which is primarily composed of industrial chemists.

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the contributions of StuartBailey, Alan Jefferson, Brian Kinsella, Roland De Marco,Lindsay Mullings, Dierdre Pearce, and the many other guestspeakers who have helped make this a very rewarding unit.

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