The Impacts of an “Organic First” Chemistry Curriculum at a Liberal Arts College

The chemistry department at Washington & Jefferson College implemented an “organic first” curriculum in the fall semester of 2005. Assessment data suggest that the net impact of this change for the department and associated constituencies has been positive: (i) Student outcomes have generally not been impacted by the curricular change, though a significant improvement in student performance on a standardized analytical exam has been observed. (ii) The department has attracted more majors, and can use faculty resources differently as a two-semester general chemistry sequence is no longer offered. (iii) The biology program reports greater student success in introductory biology, in part because of the organic chemistry background students now acquire earlier.