The Chemistry of Wine: Analyzing a General Education Course and its Impact on Student Engagement
Open Access
Author:
Alatki, Nour
Area of Honors:
Chemistry
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Kevin Charles Cannon, Thesis Supervisor David Ruth, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Chemistry Wine Education General Education Chemical Lab Techniques Interviews ACURA Student Engagment General Education Courses
Abstract:
This study investigates the use of wine chemistry topics in chemistry general education courses. General education courses are classes every Penn State undergraduate student must take to complete their bachelor's degree. These courses focus on topics and curriculums outside of the student's intended major. Analysis of the literature associated with wine chemistry and education, interviews of faculty teaching wine chemistry, along with laboratory investigations of wine-related experiments and analyses, are used to evaluate the potential benefits of developing a chemistry of wine course at Penn State Abington. Moving forward, the implementation of a general education chemistry course centered on the chemistry of wine holds great promise for enriching the educational experience of non-science majors. Such a course may be further enhanced through the use of hands-on experiments that were investigated as part of my ACURA research.
