Effective Student Engagement
The September 2015 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. This issue includes articles on flipped classroom; introductory and general chemistry; organic chemistry activities; biochemistry demonstrations and labs; computer-based learning; chemical education research; from the archive: chemistry in context.
Cover: Dynamic Density Bottle
In The Dynamic Density Bottle: A Make-and-Take, Guided Inquiry Activity on Density, Thomas S. Kuntzleman describes an activity in which students observe dynamic floating and sinking behavior of plastic pieces in various liquids. Explaining how these events take place is both motivating and thought provoking for students. This interesting system, which draws on a number of chemical concepts, can be constructed using inexpensive and easily obtained materials. The cover shows the time dependent floating and sinking behavior observed for low density polyethylene (blue pieces) and polystyrene (yellow pieces) in a thoroughly mixed isopropyl alcohol–salt water mixture (left to right: 1 s, 10 s, 20 s, 40 s, and 60 s after mixing).
Editorial
In this month’s Editorial, Kristen L. Murphy and Thomas A. Holme discuss What Might Cell Phone-Based Cheating on Tests Mean for Chemistry Education? The emergence of students using cell phones and particularly the photographic capabilities of smartphones to cheat on exams is examined.
Flipped Classroom
Flipping the classroom involves moving lecture material outside of class so that collaborative problem solving and other active learning activities may be done in class. This issue explores various venues and methods of flipped instruction in chemistry:
Chemical Education Research Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Flipped Format General Chemistry Course ~ Gabriela C. Weaver and Hannah G. Sturtevant
Demonstration Using First-Person Perspective Filming Techniques for a Chemistry Laboratory Demonstration To Facilitate a Flipped Pre-Lab ~ Fun Man Fung
Technology Report Using Presentation Software To Flip an Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Course ~ Neil Fitzgerald and Luisa Li
ConfChem 2014 Conference on Flipped Classroom
Introduction to the Spring 2014 ConfChem on the Flipped Classroom ~ Chris Luker , Jennifer Muzyka , Robert Belford
Student Engagement with Flipped Chemistry Lectures ~ Michael K. Seery
Time-Saving Resources Aligned with Cognitive Science To Help Instructors ~ JudithAnn R. Hartman, Donald J. Dahm, and Eric A. Nelson
Reclaiming Face Time—How an Organic Chemistry Flipped Classroom Provided Access to Increased Guided Engagement ~ Bridget G. Trogden
Using a Blog To Flip a Classroom ~ January D. Haile
Flipping at an Open-Enrollment College ~ Kelly B. Butzler
Improving Student Engagement in Organic Chemistry Using the Inverted Classroom Model ~ Robert D. Rossi
Just-in-Time Teaching in Chemistry Courses with Moodle ~ Jennifer L. Muzyka
Spring 2014 ConfChem Virtual Poster Session ~ Robert E. Belford, Matthew Stoltzfus, and Justin B. Houseknecht
Introductory and General Chemistry
Defining Conceptual Understanding in General Chemistry ~ Thomas A. Holme, Cynthia J. Luxford, and Alexandra Brandriet (This article has been Highlighted by Deanna Cullen and is available to non-subscribers through the ACS Editors' Choice program.)
Impact of General Chemistry on Student Achievement and Progression to Subsequent Chemistry Courses: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis ~ Ginger V. Shultz, Amy C. Gottfried, and Grace A. Winschel
Understanding the Relationship Among Arrhenius, Brønsted–Lowry, and Lewis Theories ~ Seoung-Hey Paik
Implementing an Inexpensive and Accurate Introductory Gas Density Activity with High School Students ~ W. Patrick Cunningham, Christopher Joseph, Samantha Morey, Ana Santos Romo, Cullen Shope, Jonathan Strang, and Kevin Yang
Using a Laboratory Inquiry with High School Students To Determine the Reaction Stoichiometry of Neutralization by a Thermochemical Approach ~ Tomoyuki Tatsuoka, Kana Shigedomi, and Nobuyoshi Koga (This article is available to non-subscribers through ACS AuthorChoice.)
Organic Chemistry Activities
Formalizing the First Day in an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Using a Studio-Based Approach ~ Christina G. Collison, Jeremy Cody, Darren Smith, and Jennifer Swartzenberg
ChemKarta: A Card Game for Teaching Functional Groups in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry ~ Christopher A. Knudtson
Biochemistry Demonstrations and Labs
Osmotic Stressing, Membrane Leakage, and Fluorescence: An Introductory Biochemistry Demonstration ~ Kalani J. Seu
Solution-Phase Synthesis of Dipeptides: A Capstone Project That Employs Key Techniques in an Organic Laboratory Course ~ Louis Marchetti and Brenton DeBoef
Synthesis of 10-Ethyl Flavin: A Multistep Synthesis Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiment for Upper-Division Undergraduate Students ~ Vincent A. Sichula
Synthesis of a Biologically Active Oxazol-5-(4H)-one via an Erlenmeyer–Plöchl Reaction ~ Catarina A. B. Rodrigues, José M. G. Martinho, and Carlos A. M. Afonso
M2+•EDTA Binding Affinities: A Modern Experiment in Thermodynamics for the Physical Chemistry Laboratory ~ Leah C. O’Brien, Hannah B. Root, Chin-Chuan Wei, Drake Jensen, Nahid Shabestary, Cristina De Meo, and Douglas J. Eder
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry and Macromolecular Visualization for the Interaction of Lysozyme and Its Inhibitors ~ Chin-Chuan Wei, Drake Jensen, Tiffany Boyle, Leah C. O’Brien, Cristina De Meo, Nahid Shabestary, and Douglas J. Eder
Computer-Based Learning
Simulating and Optimizing Preparative Protein Chromatography with ChromX ~ Tobias Hahn, Thiemo Huuk, Vincent Heuveline, and Jürgen Hubbuch
Development and Use of a Cyclic Voltammetry Simulator To Introduce Undergraduate Students to Electrochemical Simulations ~ Jay H. Brown
Visualizing Three-Dimensional Hybrid Atomic Orbitals Using Winplot: An Application for Student Self Instruction ~ Andrian Saputra, Lorentz R. Canaval, Sunyono, Noor Fadiawati, Chansyanah Diawati, M. Setyorini, Nina Kadaritna, and Budi Kadaryanto
Chemical Education Research
Nationwide Survey of the Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Course ~ Laura J. Fox and Gillian H. Roehrig
Short and Long-Term Impacts of the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative New Faculty Workshop ~ Marilyne Stains, Matthew Pilarz, and Devasmita Chakraverty
From the Archive: Chemistry in Context
In the article, Kinetics of Carbaryl Hydrolysis: An Undergraduate Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Darryl Hawker emphasizes an approach of real-world, context-based learning to help students appreciate the wider value of chemistry. The Journal has many, many examples of teaching chemistry in context—here's a sampling from food to field trips:
Design of a Food Chemistry-Themed Course for Nonscience Majors ~ Patrice Bell
The Bridge of Mandolin County (Teaching with Problems and Case Studies) ~ Juliette M. Lantz, Jenny E. Feindt, Eric P. B. Lewellyn, and Mary M. Walczak
Laboratory Inquiry for Determining the Chemical Composition of a Component in a Daily Use Detergent: Sodium Sesquicarbonate ~ Nobuyoshi Koga, Tomoyasu Kimura, and Kana Shigedomi
Crime Scene Investigation in the Art World: The Case of the Missing Masterpiece ~ Katharine J. Harmon, Lisa M. Miller, and Julie T. Millard
Field Trips Put Chemistry in Context for Non-Science Majors ~ Keith E. Peterman
Shake It Up with Resources from JCE
With 92 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education to explore, you will always find something engaging—including all of the articles mentioned above, and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available.
If you are considering writing an article for JCE, there are numerous author resources available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including Author Guidelines & Document Templates.