Program Purpose

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Prepare men and women of character to begin careers as biochemists, enter professional schools, or continue on to graduate study in the chemical, biochemical, biomedical, or related life sciences. This preparation includes in-depth study from fundamental principles to recent discoveries and opportunities to participate in mentored research. Students engage with faculty and their peers in an environment that is intellectually enlarging, spiritually strengthening, and character building so they will be prepared for a life of continued learning and service. Students will be prepared to work and live as practicing scientists and professionals in harmony with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Curricular Structure

The MAP sequence of courses provides a general foundation in the first year, then proceeds to cover subdisciplines in the following years. Biochemistry courses are begun in the second year and continue into the fourth year. Laboratory courses commence early in the process. In addition, students become experienced in using chemical literature, learn about research at other institutions, and have the opportunity to take a number of advanced courses. Courses in biology, mathematics, and physics are inserted throughout the curriculum to provide conceptual understanding and tools needed in the major courses.

First Year: Students take introductory courses in chemistry that focus on fundamental studies of matter and its characterization. First-year students also take an introductory chemical laboratory course. They also take foundational courses in calculus.

Second Year: Students begin courses in the subdisciplines of chemistry by taking lecture and laboratory courses in analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. Second-year students also finish their coursework in mathematics and physics, and they are encouraged to join a research group.

Third Year: Third-year students take a focused core of lecture and laboratory courses in biochemistry and a chemical literature course.

Fourth Year: In the fourth year, students complete their required and elective courses. During this year, students attend our seminar series to become more acquainted with current research outside of our department.

Undergraduate Catalog

Link to MAP

Learning Outcomes

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Chemistry and Biochemistry Fundamentals

Program graduates will have demonstrated a mastery of core concepts and principles in general, analytical, organic, and physical chemistry, with an in-depth mastery of biochemistry.

Laboratory Procedures and Practice

Program graduates will be able to perform basic laboratory procedures used in multiple areas of chemistry and biochemistry, including safely applying appropriate lab practices and accurate record keeping. Graduates will also be able to design and troubleshoot effective experiments, critically analyze data, and be able to carry out an independent project in a laboratory setting.

Research

Program graduates who choose to participate in mentored research will be able to draw on classroom knowledge, laboratory classes, and personal revelation to make an individual contribution in a research laboratory.

Effective Communication

Program graduates will be able to effectively communicate ideas and experimental results in a variety of formats, including written and oral reports and technical graphics. Graduates will also be able to search, read, and understand technical literature in the biochemical sciences related to their area of interest.

Professionalism

Program graduates will demonstrate the highest levels of integrity. They will also be professional and ethical as they collaborate with and mentor others.

Career Preparation

Students approaching the end of their course of study will be able to make informed choices among post-graduate opportunities for work or further education and identify how biochemistry can be used to improve the human condition.

Faith and Science

Students will develop an appreciation for the relationship between faith and science in a way that strengthens their testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Evidence of Learning

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Chemistry Fundamentals

1. Performance on final exams in core courses. Where appropriate, standardized exams provided by the American Chemical Society and/or the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will be used as part of the final exam.
2. Evaluation of student portfolios. The portfolio includes: A short essay written during the second year on the student's approach to learning and his or her expectations from the program. The Chem 227 Independent Project Report. The Chem 391 research paper. Best example of a laboratory report from Chem 584 or 586. Proposal for Chem 584 and final poster for Chem 586. Other material that the student selects as an example of good work, such as an example of the student's writing related to mentored research. A two-page self-assessment that includes a self-evaluation, reflections on the experience in the department, a summary of career plans and how experience in the program prepared the student for life beyond graduation.Performance on final exams in core courses. Where appropriate, standardized exams provided by the American Chemical Society will be used as part of the final exam.
3. Students' performance on GRE (subject and general), MCAT, and DAT exams.
4. Exit interviews and surveys of graduating students and alumni surveys.
5. Placement rates in graduate and professional schools.

Laboratory Proceedures and Practice

1. Quality of experimental results and laboratory reports from laboratory courses: 113, 227, 354, 384, 584, and 586 as evaluated by instructors for those courses.

Research

1. Active participation by undergraduates as research assistants on meaningful projects and in group meetings.
2. Oral and poster presentations by students at the annual Student Research Conference and at scientific meetings outside BYU.
3. Students will be asked to make goals and report on how faith connects to their research.

Effective Communication

1. Writing assignments, oral presentations, and technical posters prepared for CHEM 391.
2. Proposal and poster for Chem 584 and Chem 586.
3. Seminar summaries prepared for CHEM 594R and 495.
4. Written reports prepared by students enrolled in CHEM 498R describing their mentored research.
5. Participation by students as authors on papers published in the peer-reviewed literature.
6. Presentations by students at the annual Student Research Conference.
7. Oral and poster presentations by students at scientific meetings outside BYU.

Professionalism

1. Performance in laboratory groups and on group projects in lecture courses.
2. For those engaged in mentored research, performance within their research group.
3. For those who work as teaching assistants (TAs), student evaluations of their performance.

Career Preparation

1. Evaluation of students' response to ethical questions posed in CHEM 391. Ethics are also covered in several other course.
2. Response to questions on the final portfolio essay.
3. Alumni surveys.
4. Student participation in career nights, graduate recruiting, and career fairs.

Faith and Science

1. Reflective essays at the beginning and end of their programs (CHEM 195 and 495).
2. Faith is discussed, usually on an ad hoc basis, in almost every course.

Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement

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Program Changes and Improvement

Changes in programs in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry are considered, refined, and implemented through a departmental teaching and curriculum committee. The committee is composed of a mix of professional and professorial faculty, with representation from each of the chemistry subdisciplines and with an associate chair as an ex officio member. The committee receives input from a variety of sources as summarized below.

1. The Chair's office - The chair and associate chairs, with support from the administrative assistant and the grants and personnel administrator, compile an annual report that summarizes many of the direct and indirect measures of learning cited in the foregoing section. The chair and associate chairs also conduct exit interviews with graduating seniors and review the results of a detailed written survey administered to students in our senior seminar course. A student advisory council reports to one of the associate chairs. Portfolios are collected and reviewed in the department office. Given the chair's broad view of student performance and attitudes, many initiatives for program refinement should come from the department leadership.
2. Area Chairs - Each of the five chemistry subdisciplines has an area chair appointed by the department leadership. These senior faculty members are in the best position to assess trends in their subdisciplines and to recommend changes and improvements based on those trends.
3. Department curriculum reviews - The department conducts periodic reviews of major courses in which a faculty member summarizes the content of each course and its relationship to prerequisites and to later courses that depend on its content. These reviews provide excellent opportunities to review and update course learning outcomes in the context of program learning outcomes.
4. Individual faculty - As course assignments rotate among the faculty and as new faculty are hired, individual faculty members generate ideas for improvements in the curriculum that are channeled through the curriculum committee.

Assessment and Improvement of Teaching

Teaching performance is assessed with a combination of student evaluations, peer reviews and annual stewardship interviews with the department chair. Student evaluations are collected for each course taught in the department. Although these online evaluations are not direct measures of either teaching or learning, they are effective gauges of student attitudes and their perceptions of the value that a course has added to their education. Numerical scores and student comments for each faculty member are reviewed at least annually by the department chair. Peer reviews of teaching play a critical role in rank and status reviews and complement student evaluations in providing an assessment of teaching performance. The department has adopted the practice of assigning peer mentors to a new faculty member in the year that an assistant professor is hired, enabling the peer mentors to track the progress of the new professor over several semesters.

The department regularly schedules seminars by experts in education to bring outside perspective on developments in chemistry education. The department encourages professional development through university and off-campus workshops.

Department Assessment Committee

Jaron Hansen, Dept. Chair; Matthew Asplund, Associate Chair; and Ken Christensen, Associate Chair