Orville L. Chapman - US grants

We propose basic photochemical studies relevant to the synthesis of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, phototherapy of psoriasis, phototherapy of neonatal jaundice, and skin photosensitization by medicines and pesticides. Our long range goal is a molecular level understanding of photochemical and photobiological phenomena which will have predictive value for the future. Our immediate objectives are (1) an efficient in vitro synthesis of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, (2) a better understanding of the molecular details of steroid photochemistry, (3) utilization of photochemical methods in synthesis, (4) utilization of reactive intermediates in synthesis, (5) synthesis of reactive molecules of theoretical interest, and (6) a better understanding of heterocyclic photochemistry. Our unique low temperature (1.3 degrees K-80 degrees K) photochemical techniques offer special advantages in these studies.

The Synthetic Organic Program is funding the collaborative research of Dr. Francois N. Diederich, Dr. Orville L. Chapman and Dr. Robert L. Whetten in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. This interdisciplinary program combines state-of-the-art methodology in organic synthesis and in physical chemical characterization to gain new fundamental insights into the structure and bonding of all-carbon molecules and polymers. The goal of the study is to probe the chemistry of new carbon allotropes that differ from the three natural modifications which consist of graphite, diamond and lonsdaleite. Acetylenic cyclo?n!carbons (n = 6-72) will be prepared as isolable all-carbon molecules from stable, well-characterized precursors by the use of flash pyrolysis/laser heating experiments or by photolysis. The cyclocarbons will serve as all-carbon monomers for the controlled formation of crystalline polymer carbon allotropes, composed of regular networks of dehydroannulenes.

This project will use computers to construct a new type of analytical chemistry course at the freshman-sophomore level. It will focus on trace analysis of metal ions and organic substances in a toxic waste site that can be "sampled" by students to obtain uninterpreted analytical data via computer at many different locations at the site. Students will carry out hands-on trace analyses with non-toxic substances in order to develop their laboratory skills, and to see how the analytical data from the "site" was obtained. Applications of high-end graphics workstations throughout the lower-division laboratory courses, including the analytical course, will also be central to this project. The uses will involve among other things designing sequesterants for pollution abatement, exploring host-guest interactions, and examining orbital interactions.

Physical science majors at UCLA have deceased monotonically for 20 years. The UCLA Science Challenge has accepted as its mission four goals: 1) retain current science majors, 2) recruit new science majors, 3) attract minority students to science, and 4) improve student attitudes toward science. UCLA serves an unusually diverse student body chosen from the top 12.5% of California high school graduates. Every student enters qualified to major in science. The six departments that comprise the UCLA Science Challenge, Astronomy, Atmospheric Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Earth and Space Science, Mathematics, and Physics, taught approximately 6000 undergraduate students in lower-division courses last year. More than 20% of these students are Black or Hispanic. We have the student contact; we have an awesome opportunity. We have focused on lower-division courses and laboratories, and we have experimented with methods. We find that interactive, computer- based materials provide the most effective and the most popular laboratory instruction. Interactive seminars and discussion sessions, which have students at a computer terminal, have proved exceptionally effective in teaching. Computationally intensive demonstration programs created at UCLA have generated excitement in lectures. We are now converting these demonstration programs to interactive student programs. Using these experiences, we developed and implemented three new prototype courses in Astronomy, Atmospheric Science, and Chemistry using interactive program modules. Student response exceeded our wildest hopes. Cognitive Psychology evaluates our teaching effectiveness and assesses student attitudes. We now are now radically overhauling our lower-division science based on the creation of 11 new courses and 18 new interdisciplinary laboratory modules.

Chapman This award will allow the University of California at Los Angeles to renovate and modernize approximately 14,000 square feet of lab space into a computer modeling research facility in the chemical and biological sciences. The existing space does not conform to current fire, life safety, code, and access requirements. The renovation of the fourth floor of the south wing of Young Hall will make available a Chem-Bio Research Visualization and Learning Center dedicated to high-resolution computer graphic display instruction and research, as well as support spaces. This facility will be used by researchers, students, both undergraduate and graduates, and postdoctoral fellows. The vision for this center has been responsible for creating an environment that will foster interaction among various groups for innovative computer utilization. Novel methods are also employed by the new center arrangement to provide means of enhancing the chances of minority and women in the life sciences. This project will be cost-shared with the State of California and is an integral part of their science challenge designed to attract and retain students in science and to improve the attitudes of students towards science. ***

9353947 Russell The project will address the needs of community college faculty in learning the latest in modern chemistry methods through a workshop involving exposure to modern instrumental methods as well as computer simulation techniques to allow instructional experience on equipment not readily available to their students. Senior research faculty at UCLA will give lectures on molecular modeling, computational chemistry, multinuclear NMR, GC-MS, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy. The workshop participants will solve typical student problems in these areas; they will learn to use the instruments, and they will adapt existing UCLA freshman chemistry instructional modules using these techniques to their own settings. ***

The UCLA-CSUF-Community College Alliance (24 area community colleges that have worked together for more than 15 years) proposes a sweeping restructuring of the lower division chemistry curriculum and the auxiliary learning and assessment processes. In forming our new curriculum, we reject the positivist approach to science education in favor of a constructivist approach that emphasizes problem solving and exploratory learning. We make this change in order to focus on the developing key skills, traits, and abilities of our students. Our new curriculum, the Molecular Science Curriculum, cuts across departmental and disciplines to embrace all activities that involve the study of atoms and molecules. In particular, environmental science, materials science, and molecular life science, have important positions in the lower-division chemistry curriculum. The new curriculum reflects accurately current practice in research and the chemical industry where growth in occurring in these new fields. Today information-technology-based learning enables a practical approach to discovery learning, which educational theorists have long favored. Students can learn science by doing science. In particular, we will produce problem-based modular learning units that define the molecular science curriculum; data sets organized for exploratory learning; prepackaged molecular, mathematical, and schematic models illustrating important principles and phenomena; and a client/server system that manages education. Client/server technology enables individualized courses and frees students from rigid time constraints. The learning units will be used immediately by several of the community colleges in technology programs, such as those for science technicians and hazardous materials technicians at Mount San Antonio CC. New assessment vehicles including cumulative electronic portfolios of group and individual work provide new insight into student development and potential. The project also addresses the preparation of primary and secondary science teachers by involving them as active participants in the lower division courses of molecular science curriculum. At both UCLA and CSUF, these students will gain experience with the modules, associated learning methods, and electronic delivery system. These experiences should result in teachers with a practical perspective on science teaching as well as the ability to utilize current technology to direct learning activities. The electronic delivery system will allow students at UCLA to work with the science education faculty at CSUF to obtain certification. Since 1990 two high schools (Aliso Niguel and Crossroads) have become members of the Alliance. These schools have the facilities to expose students, experienced teachers, and future teachers to both the content and learning methods of the molecular science curriculum.

This project is being funded through the Learning and Intelligent Systems (LIS) Initiative. The focus is on learning as it occurs in complex environments, where the data have rich and potentially confusing structures. Nine investigators in five different disciplines - biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, and high school teaching of mathematics and science - will mount a collaborative, multi-level experimental and theoretical analysis of the mind's learning structures. The work integrates research on formal analyses of learnability, the evolution of complex natural and artificial adapative systems, the genetics of memory, the mind's ability to keep track of language learning data, perceptual learning of complex displays like equations and molecular models, and the creation of integrative math and science modules for use with interactive learning technologies. The unifying theme running through all of the projects, and across every level of analysis, is the interaction between the structure of the brain's learning mechanisms, and the structure of the data that support learning. Two related leitmotives cut across the planned work. First, the project itself is conceived of as a complex, interdisciplinary learning environment for people ranging from high school students and science teachers in the Los Angeles community, to senior faculty at UCLA. Second, the research efforts interact with and inform advancements in the rapidly evolving technologies for learning, instruction, genetic screening, and the development of artificial systems.