Undergraduate chemistry - points of view

In 2007-08 the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Physical Sciences Centre sent questionnaires to staff, students and directors of teaching (DoTs) in university chemistry departments in England and Scotland. Students from all four years of BSc and MChem/MSci courses participated in the survey (Fig 1). The results of this research were published in a report, Review of the student learning experience in chemistry, in July and provide a baseline from which departments can develop their teaching.  

In addition, volunteers were invited to three staff and student focus groups and four student interview groups (Fig 1). While material from the focus and interview groups, and from open comment boxes on the questionnaires, was considered too idiosyncratic to include in the survey report, nevertheless some interesting and pertinent points of view were expressed. These are worthy of a wider audience, and are the focus of this article.