Exploration of Instrument Design and Performance
The July 2016 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: cost-effective instrumentation, including 3D printed instruments and low-cost spectroscopy; laboratory instrumentation and equipment; effective teaching assistants in chemistry; laboratory experiments; resources for teaching; puzzles and games to introduce the periodic table.
Commentary
Marcy H. Towns and Thomas A. Holme examine the governance of the Division of Chemical Education over last 30 years in their Commentary The Division of Chemical Education Executive Committee, Board of Publication, and ACS Examinations Institute Board of Trustees: A Historical Perspective from 1985 to 2015.
Cost-Effective Instrumentation
Open Source Epifluorescence Microscopes: Cover Feature
Scientific inquiry need not be an expensive pursuit; many have successfully developed innovative yet economical scientific instruments or experiments for educational and other purposes. In Inexpensive, Open Source Epifluorescence Microscopes, Chris Stewart and John Giannini describe how to modify or build microscopes for fluorescent viewing using 3D printing technology or parts available at most hardware stores. Bright-field and fluorescent images of Tetrahymena thermophila cells taken using the 3D-printed version of the scope are shown on the cover. The cost-effective techniques discussed in this and additional articles listed below are intended to help promote and encourage scientific education, exploration, and innovation by students and teachers at all levels.
3D Printed Instruments
User-Friendly 3D Printed Colorimeter Models for Student Exploration of Instrument Design and Performance ~ Lon A. Porter, Benjamin M. Washer, Mazin H. Hakim, and Richard F. Dallinger
Transient-Absorption Spectroscopy of Cis–Trans Isomerization of N,N-Dimethyl-4,4′-azodianiline with 3D-Printed Temperature-Controlled Sample Holder ~ Dmytro Kosenkov, James Shaw, Jennifer Zuczek, and Yana Kholod
Low-Cost Spectroscopy
Teaching Beer’s Law and Absorption Spectrophotometry with a Smart Phone: A Substantially Simplified Protocol ~ Thomas S. Kuntzleman and Erik C. Jacobson
Optimization and Design of an Absorbance Spectrometer Controlled Using a Raspberry Pi To Improve Analytical Skills ~ Kristelle Bougot-Robin, Jack Paget, Stephen C. Atkins, and Joshua B. Edel
Construction and Characterization of a Compact, Portable, Low-Cost Colorimeter for the Chemistry Lab ~ Carrie M. Clippard, William Hughes, Balwant S. Chohan, and Danny G. Sykes
Low-Cost Instrumentation
An Inexpensive, Open-Source USB Arduino Data Acquisition Device for Chemical Instrumentation ~ James P. Grinias, Jason T. Whitfield, Erik D. Guetschow, and Robert T. Kennedy
Building a Microcontroller Based Potentiostat: A Inexpensive and Versatile Platform for Teaching Electrochemistry and Instrumentation ~ Gabriel N. Meloni
A Chemical Instrumentation Course on Microcontrollers and Op Amps. Construction of a pH Meter ~ Nikos J. Papadopoulos and Andreas Jannakoudakis
Laboratory Instrumentation & Equipment
Laboratory Instrumentation: An Exploration of the Impact of Instrumentation on Student Learning ~ Don L. Warner, Eric C. Brown, and Susan E. Shadle
Picture Chem: Playing a Game To Identify Laboratory Equipment Items and Describe Their Use ~ Nusret Kavak and Havva Yamak
Laboratory Activity on Sample Handling and Maintaining a Laboratory Notebook through Simple pH Measurements ~ Mitzy A. Erdmann and Joe L. March
Effective Teaching Assistants in Chemistry
Chemical Education Research Characterizing Instructional Practices in the Laboratory: The Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM ~ Jonathan B. Velasco, Adam Knedeisen, Dihua Xue, Trisha L. Vickrey, Marytza Abebe, and Marilyne Stains
An Intensive Training Program for Effective Teaching Assistants in Chemistry ~ Vera Dragisich, Valerie Keller, and Meishan Zhao
Development of an Advanced Training Course for Teachers and Researchers in Chemistry ~ Vera Dragisich, Valerie Keller, Rebecca Black, Charles W. Heaps, Judith M. Kamm, Frank Olechnowicz, Jonathan Raybin, Michael Rombola, and Meishan Zhao
Piloting Blended Strategies To Resolve Laboratory Capacity Issues in a First-Semester General Chemistry Course ~ Shayna Burchett, Jack Hayes, Annalise Pfaff, Emmalou T. Satterfield, Amy Skyles, and Klaus Woelk
Laboratory Experiments
Model Experiment of Thermal Runaway Reactions Using the Aluminum–Hydrochloric Acid Reaction ~ Suguru Kitabayashi, Masayoshi Nakano, Kazuyuki Nishikawa, and Nobuyoshi Koga
Studying Equilibrium in the Chemical Reaction between Ferric and Iodide Ions in Solution Using a Simple and Inexpensive Approach ~ Pavel Anatolyevich Nikolaychuk and Alyona Olegovna Kuvaeva
Electrochemical Study and Determination of Electroactive Species with Screen-Printed Electrodes ~ Daniel Martín-Yerga, Estefanía Costa Rama, and Agustín Costa García
Using a Combination of Experimental and Mathematical Method To Explore Critical Micelle Concentration of a Cationic Surfactant ~ Jelena Goronja, Nataša Pejić, Aleksandra Janošević Ležaić, Dragomir Stanisavljev, and Anđelija Malenović
Facilitating Conceptual Understanding of Gas–Liquid Mass Transfer Coefficient through a Simple Experiment Involving Dissolution of Carbon Dioxide in Water in a Surface Aeration Reactor ~ Vivek P. Utgikar and David MacPherson
Investigating Bandgap Energies, Materials, and Design of Light-Emitting Diodes ~ Eugene P. Wagner
Resources for Teaching
Review of Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War ~ Jeffrey Kovac
Review of Top Drugs: Their History, Pharmacology, and Syntheses ~ Michael B. Jacobs
Using Balancing Chemical Equations as a Key Starting Point To Create Green Chemistry Exercises Based on Inorganic Syntheses Examples ~ John Andraos
Distilling the Archives: Puzzles and Games to Introduce the Periodic Table
Antonio Joaquín Franco-Mariscal, José María Oliva-Martínez, Ángel Blanco-López, and Enrique España-Ramos describe their research on A Game-Based Approach To Learning the Idea of Chemical Elements and Their Periodic Classification. This is related to a previous study on Students’ Perceptions about the Use of Educational Games as a Tool for Teaching the Periodic Table of Elements at the High School Level by Antonio Joaquín Franco-Mariscal, José María Oliva-Martínez, and M. L. Almoraima Gil. In addition, past issues include numerous puzzles and games for introducing the periodic table:
Elements—A Card Game of Chemical Names and Symbols ~ Susan V. Alexander, Richard S. Sevcik, O'Dell Hicks, and Linda D. Schultz
ChemMend: A Card Game To Introduce and Explore the Periodic Table while Engaging Students’ Interest ~ Vicente Martí-Centelles and Jenifer Rubio-Magnieto
An Educational Card Game for Learning Families of Chemical Elements ~ Antonio Joaquín Franco Mariscal, José María Oliva Martínez, and Serafín Bernal Márquez
Cheminoes: A Didactic Game To Learn Chemical Relationships between Valence, Atomic Number, and Symbol ~ Luis F. Moreno, Gina Hincapié, and María Victoria Alzate
An Effective Method of Introducing the Periodic Table as a Crossword Puzzle at the High School Level ~ Sushama D. Joag
At ChemEdX, you’ll find Dan Mayers’ periodic table board game.
A Cost-Effective Resource: JCE
Ninety-three volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education means you will always find something innovative—including 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.
Summer is here! Please consider submitting a contribution to the Journal of Chemical Education. Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary gives great advice on writing for the Journal. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including: Author Guidelines, Document Templates, and Reference Guidelines. The Journal has issued a call for papers on Polymer Concepts across the Curriculum, so consider submitting a contribution to our next special issue.