Ringing in Volume 94
The January 2017 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online(link is external) to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: NMR spectroscopy; examining assessment; inquiry-based practices; cost-effective instrumentation; miscibility demonstrations; innovative laboratory experiments; from the archives: lightsticks.
Editorial
To kick off the new volume, Editor-in-Chief Norbert J. Pienta muses on How To Make a Journal Better(link is external).
Cover: NMR Spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy plays an integral role in the chemistry curriculum, spanning theory, concepts, and experimentation; it is imperative that the instruction methods for NMR are both efficient and effective. The cover features the laboratory experiment, Rapid Determination of Enantiomeric Excess via NMR Spectroscopy: A Research-Informed Experiment(link is external). John S. Fossey, Eric V. Anslyn, William D. G. Brittain, Steven D. Bull, Brette M. Chapin, Cécile S. Le Duff, Tony D. James, Glenn Lees, Stephanie Lim, Jennifer A. C. Lloyd, Charles V. Manville, Daniel T. Payne, and Kimberley A. Roper describe an experiment that exploits chiral supramolecular assemblies for the determination of enantiomeric excess by 1H NMR spectroscopy. (This article is available to non-subscribers as part of ACS’s AuthorChoice(link is external) program.)
Other laboratories that use NMR in this issue include:
Introducing Students to NMR Methods Using Low-Field 1H NMR Spectroscopy to Determine the Structure and the Identity of Natural Amino Acids(link is external) ~ Aleksandra Zivkovic, Jan Josef Bandolik, Alexander Jan Skerhut, Christina Coesfeld, Nenad Zivkovic, Miomir Raos, and Holger Stark
Quantitative Analysis of Multicomponent Mixtures of Over-the-Counter Pain Killer Drugs by Low-Field NMR Spectroscopy(link is external) ~ Aleksandra Zivkovic, Jan Josef Bandolik, Alexander Jan Skerhut, Christina Coesfeld, Momir Prascevic, Ljiljana Zivkovic, and Holger Stark
Using Esters To Introduce Paradigms of Spin–Spin Coupling(link is external) ~ Kyle T. Smith and Christian S. Hamann
Ideas about using NMR in the high school classroom is discussed in:
Bringing NMR and IR Spectroscopy to High Schools(link is external) ~ Jessica L. Bonjour, Alisa L. Hass, David W. Pollock, Aaron Huebner, and John A. Frost
Research on how students understand NMR is examined in:
NMR Spectra through the Eyes of a Student: Eye Tracking Applied to NMR Items(link is external) ~ Joseph J. Topczewski, Anna M. Topczewski, Hui Tang, Lisa K. Kendhammer, and Norbert J. Pienta
Examining Assessment
Analyzing the Role of Science Practices in ACS Exam Items(link is external) ~ Jessica J. Reed, Alexandra R. Brandriet, Thomas A. Holme; this article is available to non-subscribers as part of ACS’s Editors’ Choice(link is external) program.
Choice of Study Resources in General Chemistry by Students Who Have Little Time To Study(link is external) ~ Diane M. Bunce, Regis Komperda, Debra K. Dillner, Shirley Lin, Maria J. Schroeder, and JudithAnn R. Hartman
Inquiry-Based Practices
Characterizing Teaching Assistants’ Knowledge and Beliefs Following Professional Development Activities within an Inquiry-Based General Chemistry Context(link is external) ~ Lindsay B. Wheeler, Jennifer L. Maeng, and Brooke A. Whitworth
Developing and Supporting Students’ Autonomy To Plan, Perform, and Interpret Inquiry-Based Biochemistry Experiments(link is external) ~ Thanuci Silva and Eduardo Galembeck
Using Computational Visualizations of the Charge Density To Guide First-Year Chemistry Students through the Chemical Bond(link is external) ~ Jonathan Miorelli, Allison Caster, and Mark E. Eberhart
Cost-Effective Instrumentation
An Inexpensive Programmable Dual-Syringe Pump for the Chemistry Laboratory(link is external) ~ Mark S. Cubberley and William A. Hess
Authentic Performance in the Instrumental Analysis Laboratory: Building a Visible Spectrophotometer Prototype(link is external) ~ Mark V. Wilson and Erin Wilson
Simple and Inexpensive 3D Printed Filter Fluorometer Designs: User-Friendly Instrument Models for Laboratory Learning and Outreach Activities(link is external) ~ Lon A. Porter, Jr., Cole A. Chapman, and Jacob A. Alaniz
Miscibility Demonstrations
Partially Miscible Water–Triethylamine Solutions and Their Temperature Dependence(link is external) ~ Johan P. Erikson
For some miscibility video demonstrations available at ChemEdX see:
Chemical Mystery #5: How to burn water ~ Tom Kuntzleman
Like Dissolves Like - Demonstration ~ ChemEdX video collection
Innovative Laboratory Experiments
Magnetic Microorganisms: Using Chemically Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles To Observe and Control Paramecia(link is external) ~ Lynn M. Tarkington, William W. Bryan, Tejas Kolhatkar, Nathanael J. Markle, Elizabeth A. Raska, Michael M. Cubacub, Supparesk Rittikulsittichai, Chien-Hung Li, Yi-Ting Chen, Andrew C. Jamison, and T. Randall Lee
Simultaneous Introduction of Redox and Coordination Chemistry Concepts in a Single Laboratory Experiment(link is external) ~ Philip J. Ferko, Jeffrey R. Withers, Hung Nguyen, Joshua Ema, Tim Ema, Charles Allison, Christian Dornhoefer, Nigam P. Rath, and Stephen M. Holmes
Two-Photon Absorption Spectroscopy on Curcumin in Solution: A State-of-the-Art Physical Chemistry Experiment(link is external) ~ Julie Donnelly and Florencio E. Hernandez
Improving Student Results in the Crystal Violet Chemical Kinetics Experiment(link is external) ~ Nathanael Kazmierczak and Douglas A. Vander Griend
From the Archives: Lightsticks
Peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reactions in lightsticks are perennially popular in JCE. This issue is no exception, where Iain A. Smellie, Joanna K. D Aldred (née Prentis), Benjamin Bower, Amber Cochrane, Laurie Macfarlane, Hollie B. McCarron, Roxana O’Hara, Iain L. J. Patterson, Marie I. Thomson, and Jessica M. Walker discuss Alternative Hydrogen Peroxide Sources for Peroxyoxalate “Glowstick” Chemiluminescence Demonstrations(link is external).
Some past JCE laboratories and demonstrations using glowsticks include:
"Cool-Light" Chemiluminescence(link is external) ~ Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Lloyd G. Williams, Glen E. Dirreen, and Ann Francis
The Chemistry of Lightsticks: Demonstrations To Illustrate Chemical Processes(link is external) ~ Thomas Scott Kuntzleman, Kristen Rohrer, and Emeric Schultz
Glowmatography(link is external) ~ Thomas S. Kuntzleman, Anna E. Comfort, and Bruce W. Baldwin
The Effects of Temperature on Lightsticks(link is external) ~ JCE Staff
Lightstick Kinetics(link is external) ~ Catherine L. McCluskey and Charles E. Roser
Lightstick Magic: Determination of the Activation Energy with PSL(link is external) ~ Thomas H. Bindel
Demonstrating the Antioxidative Capacity of Substances with Lightsticks(link is external) ~ Robert R. Wieczorek and Katrin Sommer
A Thousand Reasons to Explore JCE
With over 1,000 issues of the Journal of Chemical Education to examine, you will always find something useful—including 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.
Do you have something to share? Write it up for the Journal! For some advice on becoming an author, read Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary(link is external). In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including recently updated: Author Guidelines(link is external), Document Templates(link is external), and Reference Guidelines(link is external).