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When the economy is tight and education budgets are being cut, the public generally turns to the idea of higher education as technical training rather and a broad training of the mind wedded to a training in a specific field.  As has been noted in this blog on several occasions, this is in line with the interests of many college students who could care less about anything that they think is unimportant to their getting the job they desire. Rather than comment on the value of classes like "Comic Spirit,"it might be useful to turn this discussion toward my favorite class, organic chemistry.

After the recent ACS National meeting I was discussing "real world" organic chemistry with one of my former students.  I had a standard organic text open when my former student arrived.  The visitor immediately noted that the chemistry shown on the pages was never really used in modern industrial laboratories, to which I noted that few academic labs would use that particular chemistry.  The truth is that much of the chemistry in standard organic texts is not used today.  My early career med chemist commented that one of the challenges of the first year in industry was learning all the chemistry that they never encountered in their academic training.

With the advances of transition metal catalysis over the last couple of decades many of the chemistry's we teach in our organic classes are, form a practical standpoint, only marginally better than teaching students blowpipe analysis.  From a pedagogical perspective, these older chemistry's have value in training the mind.  My concern is that we must balance the training of the mind with the practical skill training that students need to be successful.

Some will argue that the practical training is the function of research in the curriculum.  The problem is that in the modern funding scheme of higher education, research and small lab classes are being defunded, as they cost the university a considerable amount per student.  In many systems research required of faculty and students, receives barely token funding.  Faculty and departments are expected to raise the needed funding themselves.

It may be time to convert those third semester organic classes to "real world organic" courses.  There is a need for textbooks written at a junior class level that make the transition from the basic organic course to modern practical organic chemistry.  I would be interested in suggestions and ideas on the subject.

T.S. Hall