Chemistry

The Muskingum University chemistry department’s laboratory intensive instructional program has been certified by the American Chemical Society since 1966. The program facilitates an understanding of the materials around us and the changes they undergo by providing students with the knowledge they need for an understanding of everyday experience and environmental and economic concerns

Mission

The chemistry department is committed to excellence in the education of students in the field of chemistry and providing them with an opportunity to gain an appreciation and enthusiasm for the field.  This is accomplished by introducing them to the language and methods of chemistry, developing their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, exposing them to the appropriate lab experiences and chemical instrumentation and training them to appreciate and understand the connection between chemistry and real-world situations.

Program Learning Goals

Upon graduation, chemistry majors will have a thorough knowledge and comprehension of the core concepts of chemistry, and a set of fundamental skills that can be applied.

• Chemistry majors will be able to think critically and be competent problem-solvers.  They will be able to analyze data, apply appropriate techniques to arrive at a solution, test the correctness of their solution, identify sources of error, interpret results, and be able to inter-relate their results to other areas of chemistry.
• Chemistry majors will be able to design and set up experiments, use instrumental methods of analysis, be able to deal with hazards associated with chemicals and apparatus, and be competent users of basic software, such as word processing, spreadsheets, and graphics programs.
• Chemistry majors will be able to express, orally and in writing, their understanding of core chemical principles, the results of experiments and their analyses of problems.