|
|
|
By JODI
HECKEL
© 2002 THE
NEWS-GAZETTE
Published Online September 18,
2002
URBANA – The freshmen in Yi
Lu's general chemistry course start out full of curiosity, but
several of them end up dropping the class partway through the
semester.
“They are really bright and very
enthusiastic, so presumably they shouldn't drop,?said Lu, a
professor of chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics at the
University of Illinois. “There are little things that can quench
their curiosity. One bad grade on a chemistry exam and they say, ‘I'm
not cut out for chemistry.' Some subjects can be difficult, but if
students are interested, a lot of that difficulty can be
overcome.?BR> Lu wants to nurture the curiosity
of his chemistry students and attract others who are interested in
chemistry but feel intimidated by the subject, and he recently
received $1 million to help him do so.
Lu is
one of 20 scientists to win a $1 million award from the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute this year. The purpose of the awards is to
improve the way science is taught and make it more engaging for
undergraduates.
The scientists will receive the
money over the next four years. Lu is using it to develop a course
to help students relate their required science courses to a topic of
interest to them and to do research.
They will
pick a topic and formulate a plan for investigating it as freshmen.
Sophomores will research the topic, and upper-level students will do
laboratory work and develop a presentation on what they have
learned.
“When they go to class, I hope they
will say, ‘I'm coming to class with some questions and I have to
listen and I hope it will give me some insight,'?Lu
said.
Students take their required science
courses in sequential order because the more-advanced courses build
on the basic knowledge learned in the introductory courses. Although
professors relate the concepts to everyday life, some material may
not hold the students' interest, Lu said.
By
letting them pick a topic they are interested in and relating
classroom material to it, he hopes more of them will stick with
chemistry.
“I'm not trying to replace the
current structure,?Lu said. “What I'm interested in doing for
students is making those classes more meaningful.?BR>
He also hopes the course will encourage students
to keep working at chemistry and not let a setback such as a bad
exam kill their interest. As students progress through the course
during their college careers, they can serve as mentors to
underclassmen.
The course will be offered every
spring. Lu said he wants to include both chemistry majors and
nonmajors, but he is still working out the
logistics.
Lu teaches about 300 students who
are chemistry majors, and he is an undergraduate adviser. He has had
more than 30 undergraduates working for him as research assistants
in his lab in the eight years he has taught at the UI. He said
working with the students has given him a perspective on what they
like and how to make introductory classes more interesting to
them.
Lu's grant money will be used for hiring
more teaching assistants, intensive summer courses, and possibly
fellowships for minority students or money for visiting professors.
He hopes his course could be a model for encouraging students in
other areas of science as well.
Other stories appearing in the online edition of Wednesday,
September 18, 2002:
|
