Anchoring skill development in introductory chemistry

“Mom, can you help me tonight with my chemistry homework?” My teenage daughter quickly learned to rely on me as a resource during her introductory chemistry course at a local college. As chair of the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training (CPT) and a faculty member with more than 2 decades of experience, this was my first real glimpse into how students today experience introductory chemistry. The semester served as a powerful reminder that we, as a chemistry community, have a unique opportunity to connect to current students’ passions with the fascinating molecular world around them. Today’s students want to understand how chemistry relates to the broader challenges they care about, like climate, energy, health care, sustainability, and in my daughter’s case, cosmetics.

As we move beyond the Information Age, our teaching and learning practices must evolve. We must prepare students for a future that is changing faster than any curriculum. While CPT does not directly assess introductory courses—allowing institutions to design transition experiences that best serve their student populations—the committee views these courses as foundational to the chemistry curriculum and recognizes them as a critical gateway for sparking student interest. Still many introductory courses have not been successful in doing this, and many have not adapted to the shifting educational landscape. This can result in students struggling to see how classroom content connects to real-world issues. Given the rapid growth of knowledge, the goal of covering all content is no longer realistic, a notion that may have been feasible a century ago but is now outdated. Accepting this can be liberating. We no longer need to cover everything. Instead we should use our content to build skills that empower students to continue learning as knowledge evolves. The most-sought-after employees will be adaptable, resilient problem solvers, not those with the most memorized facts. The latter made more efficient employees in previous generations.

This shift in educational priorities is reflected in the emphasis on skill development in the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs. While the guidelines do not prescribe specific methods, skills need to be integrated and scaffolded throughout the curriculum, not isolated in individual courses. Communication and collaboration, for example, should be foundational in many settings. True teamwork doesn’t occur when students simply share glassware in a lab. Rather, it happens when they build on each other’s strengths to achieve a common goal. Consider how you might broaden the emphasis on incorporating these skills into all classroom settings, not just laboratories.

Laboratory instruction offers a valuable opportunity to show students what chemists actually do—ask questions, collect data, and draw conclusions—rather than simply confirm known outcomes. This environment can be used to cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Most importantly, instructors need to incorporate experimental experiences that actively engage students and help them discover that scientific research can be both meaningful and fun.

Introductory chemistry courses are also an ideal setting to introduce professional conduct skills, including data integrity and responsible use of artificial intelligence. Incorporating systems thinking allows instructors to connect chemistry to other disciplines and link it to social, economic, political, moral, and environmental contexts, the types of issues that are central to the current student populations. Too often, students fail to see how what they’re learning applies to the challenges they care about. We must intentionally help them make those connections.

At a time when some institutions are discontinuing chemistry majors due to declining enrollment and rising costs, industry continues to call for more scientifically trained talent. We have an opportunity to design inclusive, engaging courses that reflect what current students value. This means shifting from a focus on breadth of content to using content as a vehicle for skill development. It also means building courses and overall experiences that provide opportunities for every student’s success.

My daughter took first-year chemistry last year as an elective, considering a minor in the field. She left with little interest in continuing. Substantial research and work have already been done in rethinking and redesigning introductory chemistry experiences to engage more students while building and strengthening foundational skills. CPT is working to collate these resources and share them with the community. Let’s work to incorporate them into our classrooms and laboratories. We are entering a new age, and it’s time to start acting like it. Let’s leverage AI to personalize instruction and meet students where they are. Let’s normalize the struggle inherent in learning and provide meaningful support. Let’s move beyond the first level of Bloom’s taxonomy and help students analyze, evaluate, and create. Most importantly, let’s help them discover the wonder of the molecular world and its power to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

Views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of C&EN or ACS.