Facilitating the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry
The June 2014 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online(link is external) to subscribers. The June issue includes articles on using the senses and esters to teach chemistry, developing student-centered activities, introducing the periodic table with puzzles, teaching visual literacy, and exploring thermochromic materials.
Using the Senses and Esters to Teach Chemistry
In the cover article Esterification Reaction Utilizing Sense of Smell and Eyesight for Conversion and Catalyst Recovery Monitoring(link is external), Nikki Janssens, Lik H. Wee, and Johan A. Martens describe a simple reaction for demonstrating the use of a homogeneous catalyst in an esterification reaction and observing the catalytic process by two human senses, sight and smell.
Qing Ji, Nadia S. El-Hamdi, and Ognjen Š. Miljanić also use esters in clever combinations to make scent transmutations(link is external) in order to teach the concepts of chemical equilibrium, distillation, transesterification, dynamic combinatorial chemistry, and the industrially relevant process of reactive distillation
Editorial
In “This IS NOT Acceptable(link is external)”, Norbert Pienta (Editor-in-Chief) discusses the appropriateness of student concerns about testing and assessment and of some of the traditions in large-enrollment courses in chemistry education. Deanna Cullen responded to this editorial in her blog post Making the Grade.(link is external)
Chemical Education Research
Applying the Multilevel Framework of Discourse Comprehension To Evaluate the Text Characteristics of General Chemistry Textbooks(link is external) by Daniel T. Pyburn and Samuel Pazicni
Role of Teacher-Initiated Discourses in Students’ Development of Representational Fluency in Chemistry: A Case Study(link is external) by Abdi-Rizak M. Warfa, Gillian H. Roehrig, Jamie L. Schneider, and James Nyachwaya
Examining Evidence for External and Consequential Validity of the First Term General Chemistry Exam from the ACS Examinations Institute(link is external) by Scott E. Lewis
Covalent Bond Classification Method
Application of the Covalent Bond Classification Method for the Teaching of Inorganic Chemistry(link is external) by Malcolm L. H. Green and Gerard Parkin
Student-Centered Activities
Sticky Ions: A Student-Centered Activity Using Magnetic Models to Explore the Dissolving of Ionic Compounds(link is external) by Sheila Ryan and Deborah G. Herrington
Using Computational Chemistry Activities To Promote Learning and Retention in a Secondary School General Chemistry Setting(link is external) by Joseph W. Ochterski
Puzzles and Games to Introduce the Periodic Table
An Effective Method of Introducing the Periodic Table as a Crossword Puzzle at the High School Level(link is external) by Sushama D. Joag
ChemMend: A Card Game To Introduce and Explore the Periodic Table while Engaging Students’ Interest(link is external) by Vicente Martí-Centelles and Jenifer Rubio-Magnieto
Cheminoes: A Didactic Game To Learn Chemical Relationships between Valence, Atomic Number, and Symbol(link is external) by Luis F. Moreno, Gina Hincapié, and María Victoria Alzate
Physical Chemistry
Thermodynamics
Entropy of Mixing of Distinguishable Particles(link is external) by Evguenii I. Kozliak
Spontaneity and Equilibrium II: Multireaction Systems(link is external) by Lionel M. Raff
Use of JANAF Tables in Equilibrium Calculations and Partition Function Calculations for an Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Course(link is external) by David A. Cleary
Quantum Mechanics
Using a Spreadsheet To Solve the Schrödinger Equations for the Energies of the Ground Electronic State and the Two Lowest Excited States of H2(link is external) by Yingbin Ge, Robert C. Rittenhouse, Jacob C. Buchanan, and Benjamin Livingston
Phase Diagrams
Binary Solid–Liquid Phase Diagram of Phenol and t-Butanol: An Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Experiment(link is external) by Xinhua Xu, Xiaogang Wang, and Meifen Wu
Deconstructing Phase Diagram Calculations(link is external) by Pierre Tomasini
Analytical Chemistry in the Laboratory
Determination of Ethanol in Gasoline by FT-IR Spectroscopy(link is external) by Alfred Conklin, Jr., Michael J. Goldcamp, and Jacob Barrett
Development of a Handmade Conductivity Measurement Apparatus and Application to Vegetables and Fruits(link is external) by Seng Set and Masakazu Kita
Volumetric Titrations Using Electrolytically Generated Reagents for the Determination of Ascorbic Acid and Iron in Dietary Supplement Tablets: An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment(link is external) by Christopher Scanlon, Zewdu Gebeyehu, Kameron Griffin, and Rajeev B. Dabke
A Comprehensive Microfluidics Device Construction and Characterization Module for the Advanced Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Laboratory(link is external) by Paul A. E. Piunno, Adrian Zetina, Norman Chu, Anthony J. Tavares, M. Omair Noor, Eleonora Petryayeva, Uvaraj Uddayasankar, and Andrew Veglio
Dark Field Microscopy for Analytical Laboratory Courses(link is external) by Ashley E. Augspurger, Anthony S. Stender, Kyle Marchuk, Thomas J. Greenbowe, and Ning Fang
Determination of log Kow Values for Four Drugs(link is external) by Mark F. Harris and Jennifer L. Logan
Photochemistry
Photochemistry of Naphthopyrans and Derivatives: A Computational Experiment for Upper-Level Undergraduates or Graduate Students(link is external) by Frédéric Castet, Raphaël Méreau, and Daniel Liotard
Bringing Photochemistry to the Masses: A Simple, Effective, and Inexpensive Photoreactor, Right Out of the Box(link is external) by Theint Aung and Charles A. Liberko
Visual Literacy
Results of a National Survey of Biochemistry Instructors To Determine the Prevalence and Types of Representations Used during Instruction and Assessment(link is external) by Kimberly J. Linenberger and Thomas A. Holme
An Integrated Visualization and Basic Molecular Modeling Laboratory for First-Year Undergraduate Medicinal Chemistry(link is external) by Joseph M. Hayes
Use of iSpartan in Teaching Organic Spectroscopy(link is external) by Andrew G. Karatjas
From the Archives: Exploring Thermochromic Materials
This issue contains two articles that explore thermochromic materials:
Microwave Mapping Demonstration Using the Thermochromic Cobalt Chloride Equilibrium(link is external) by Vu D. Nguyen and Kurt R. Birdwhistell
Exploration of Thermochromic Materials Using Experimental and Theoretical Infrared and UV–Visible Spectroscop(link is external)y by Kelsey Costello, Kevin Thinh Doan, Kari Lynn Organtini, John Wilson, Morgan Boyer, Greglynn Gibbs, and Lorena Tribe.
The thermochromism of cobalt chloride can be further studied using a CD-ROM Spectroscope: A Simple and Inexpensive Tool for Classroom Demonstrations on Chemical Spectroscopy(link is external) as described by Fumitaka Wakabayashi, Kiyohito Hamada, and Kozo Sone.
Other articles exploring thermochromic commercial materials in past issues include:
Demonstration of Thermodynamics and Kinetics Using FriXion Erasable Pens(link is external) by Dean J. Campbell, Wayne B. Bosma, Stephen J. Bannon, Molly M. Gunter, and Margaret K. Hammar
Intelligent Thermochromic Windows(link is external) by Ivan P. Parkin and Troy D. Manning
Thermochromism in Commercial Products(link is external) by Mary Anne White and Monique LeBlanc
With over 1000 Issues of JCE Available, There’s Always More to Explore
You will find all of the articles mentioned above(link is external), and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education(link is external). Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable(link is external)) are also available.
The January 2014 issue(link is external) will be available as a sample issue for the entire year. If you like what you read, subscribe(link is external)! If you have something to share, write it up!(link is external)