Thanks to some guidance and support IONiC colleagues, I sat down to critically think about what I want students to learn from my inorganic courses before I wrote my syllabi this spring.  For the first time in 16 years of teaching (shamelessly admitted), I included course learning goals on my syllabi.  I thought it would be interesting to share these and compare to what other folks are doing.

My first course is Chem 212: Introductory Inorganic Chemistry.  I call it "a sophomore course on steroids."  The pre-requisite is a year of General Chem, and the course includes a lab.  Here are my learning goals for this year:

By the end of Chem 212, you should be able to:

• Identify any element from its symbol and place it in the correct region of the periodic table (s-block, p-block, d-block, f-block)
• Use concepts from quantum theory and atomic orbitals to explain periodic trends in atomic properties and relate these to inorganic chemistry
• Predict the structure and using an appropriate model, describe the bonding in main group molecules
• Identify the symmetry operations and the point group of a molecule
• Extend acid-base concepts to inorganic systems and use different models to predict chemical reactivity
• Describe the structures and properties of common crystalline and ionic solids
• Describe the band structures of metals, semiconductors, and insulators and relate these descriptions to the electronic and optical properties
• Use crystal field or MO theory to explain the electronic structure and magnetism of transition metal complexes
• Describe different synthesis techniques for the preparation of inorganic molecules and extended solids
• Explain the use of multinuclear NMR, IR, and UV/Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and electrochemistry to characterize inorganic molecules and extended solids
• Read and discuss an article from the inorganic chemistry primary literature

In addition to these content-related goals, you will:

• Improve your problem-solving ability
• Improve your writing skills
• Improve your skills for working successfully in small groups
• Increase your enthusiasm for learning chemistry

My second course, Chem 334: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, is an elective, lecture-conference style 0.5 unit course.  Here are the learning goals for this spring:

By the end of Chem 334, you should be able to:

• Identify any element from its symbol and place it in the correct region of the periodic table (s-block, p-block, d-block, f-block)
• Apply tools from symmetry and group theory to solve problems involving vibrational spectroscopy and molecular orbital theory
• Describe the frontier orbitals for a variety of ligands (i.e. H2, N2, alkenes, arenes) and how these interact with a transition metal complex fragment
• Use MO theory to rationalize the structure, bonding, and properties of transition metal complexes including those with metal-metal bonding
• Count to 18 (use of fingers and toes allowed) and explain the use and limitations of the 18 e  rule
• Understand the extension of MO theory to band structure and derive useful information from an E vs. k (spaghetti) and/or density of states diagram
• Explain the use of various spectroscopies, X-ray crystallography, thermal analysis, and electrochemistry to characterize inorganic molecules and extended solids
• Pick an article from the inorganic chemistry primary literature and summarize the purpose of the research, explain one or more techniques used, and discuss the conclusions of the authors
• See the Energy Nuggets syllabus for additional course goals

In addition, you will have an exposure to the following advanced topics:

• Organometallics (the metal carbon bond)
• Bioinorganic chemistry (metals in biology)
• Solid state chemistry (battery materials, superconductors, solar cells)
• Lanthanide and actinide chemistry