Report On ‘The MATCH Program: Integrating Student Learning in Science and Math’

Abstract

The inability to integrate mathematics and chemistry continues to plague science and math undergraduates. General chemistry students often lack the ability to apply the mathematics they already know to problems given in their chemistry classes, and mathematics students often stumble through word problems. In response to this prevalent compartmentalization, Dr. Donald Wink created a program at the University of Illinois at Chicago to break down illusory mental borders between mathematics and chemistry. Strategically, he accomplished this by creating a single course where students work in teams to answer word problems; by stressing the effective use of graphing calculators in this course; and by giving significant, physical meaning to the symbols used in equations. During Dr. Wink’s ‘Integrating Student Learning in Math and Science’ workshop, attendees experienced these three techniques first-hand when they worked through mathematics-based chemistry problems (and vice versa) together.