Historical Analysis of the Inorganic Chemistry Curriculum Using ACS Examinations as Artifacts

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 95; no. 5; pp. 726 - 733
• Main Authors: Srinivasan, Shalini, Reisner, Barbara A, Smith, Sheila R, Stewart, Joanne L, Johnson, Adam R, Lin, Shirley, Marek, Keith A, Nataro, Chip, Murphy, Kristen L, Raker, Jeffrey R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 08.05.2018; Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Chemistry; College Faculty; College Science; Course Content; Curricula; Historic artifacts; Historical analysis; Inorganic Chemistry; Organic chemistry; Physical chemistry; Science Curriculum; Science Education History; Science Instruction; Science Tests; Spatial Ability; Test Items; Testing; Undergraduate Study; Testing/Assessment; Upper-Division Undergraduate; Inorganic Chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00803

ACS Examinations provide a lens through which to examine historical changes in topic coverage via analyses of course-specific examinations. This study is an extension of work completed previously by the ACS Exams Research Staff and collaborators in general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry to explore content changes in the principal courses of the postsecondary chemistry curriculum. In this study, we consider how inorganic chemistry content coverage has varied over a 55-year period since the first inorganic chemistry ACS Examination was released in 1961. A total of 860 items  was evaluated on the basis of problem type (i.e., algorithmic, conceptual, or recall), use of visual-spatial or reference components, and content coverage. Our analyses identify core content areas in the inorganic chemistry curriculum, consistent with those reported in faculty surveys. Each examination also contained questions addressing a variety of specialty areas that vary widely within the discipline between 1961 and 2016. Unlike the results from historical reviews of general chemistry and organic chemistry ACS Examinations, we observe great variability across the 13 inorganic chemistry examinations with an absence of strong trends in inclusion or exclusion of problem types, visual-spatial or reference components, or content across the 13 exams analyzed. Our results offer a framework for using historical ACS Examinations as a tool to make decisions about the future of content coverage in postsecondary inorganic chemistry education.