Chemistry Education: A Bridge to the Future
The August 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: authentic chemistry laboratories; student motivation, sustained interest, and student success; student understanding of fundamental concepts; aids to assessment; computer-based learning; active learning activities; engaging polymer chemistry activities; experimenting with flavor and food; organic chemistry laboratories; spectroscopy laboratories; acid-base chemistry; from the archives: polymer properties.
Cover: Authentic Chemistry Laboratories
In Bridges to the Future: Toward Future Ready Graduates in Chemistry Laboratories, Fun Man Fung and Simon Francis Watts describe the redesign of an advanced analytical and physical chemistry practical module for senior undergraduates. The course emphasizes authentic teaching and learning practices, including questioning and acknowledgment of ambiguity, to develop students’ creative thinking and problem-solving skills while meaningfully assessing these competencies and to ultimately help prepare graduates for their professional futures. Additional discussions of analytical laboratories include:
Implementation of a Student-Customized Integrated Upper-Level Chemistry Laboratory Course ~ Vishakha Monga, Kerry J. Knox, Elizabeth A. L. Gillis, Robin Stoodley, Guillaume Bussiere, and Christine Rogers
Integrating Authentic Research Experiences into the Quantitative Analysis Chemistry Laboratory Course: STEM Majors’ Self-Reported Perceptions and Experiences ~ Jacinta M. Mutambuki, Herb Fynewever, Kevin Douglass, William W. Cobern, and Sherine O. Obare
Student Skill Development with the Real World: Analyzing tert-Butyl Alcohol Content in Gasoline Samples ~ Bruna F. Gonçalves, Gabriela Botelho, Maria J. Medeiros, and Michael J. Smith
Student Motivation, Sustained Interest, and Student Success
In the August editorial, Thomas A. Holme inquires What Do We Miss about Students’ Individual Decision Making by Focusing Only on Overall Trends? Additional discussion about student motivation and success in chemistry can be found in:
Metacognitive Training in Chemistry Tutor Sessions Increases First Year Students’ Self-Efficacy ~ Kate J. Graham, Catherine M. Bohn-Gettler, and Annette F. Raigoza
A Prelaboratory Framework Toward Integrating Theory and Utility Value with Laboratories: Student Perceptions on Learning and Motivation ~ Kimia Moozeh, Jennifer Farmer, Deborah Tihanyi, Tristan Nadar, and Greg J. Evans
Impact of Peer-Focused Recitation To Enhance Student Success in General Chemistry ~ Viveka L. Perera, Tianlan Wei, and Debra A. Mlsna
Student Understanding of Fundamental Concepts
Making It Clear: Exploring Crystal Structures by Constructing and Comparing See-Through Models ~ Stefanie Lenzer, Bernd Smarsly, and Nicole Graulich
Using Retrosynthetic Graphic Organizers and Molecule of the Week Activities in Organic Chemistry Tutorials ~ Christine M. Le and Barbora Morra
Development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory as a Measure of Students’ Understandings of Particulate and Symbolic Representations of Electron Structure ~ Zahilyn D. Roche Allred and Stacey Lowery Bretz
Investigating Student Understanding of Rate Constants: When is a Constant “Constant”? ~ Kinsey Bain, Jon-Marc G. Rodriguez, and Marcy H. Towns
Dispersion Forces: Neither Fluctuating Nor Dispersing ~ Donald G. Truhlar
Aids to Assessment
Assessment of Process Skills in Analytical Chemistry Student Responses to Open-Ended Exam Questions ~ Jennifer A. Schmidt-McCormack, Caryl Fish, Anne Falke, Juliette Lantz, and Renée S. Cole
Bringing Nuance to Automated Exam and Classroom Response System Grading: A Tool for Rapid, Flexible, and Scalable Partial-Credit Scoring ~ Tom P. Carberry, Philip S. Lukeman, and Dustin J. Covell
Computer-Based Learning
Developing and Using a Computer Simulation of Liquid–Vapor Transitions to Improve Students’ Assimilation of Concepts Related to the Behavior of Real Gases ~ David Zorrilla, Jesús Sánchez-Márquez, Víctor García, and Manuel Fernández
Realistic Implementation of the Particle Model for the Visualization of Nanoparticle Precipitation and Growth ~ Antonella Di Vincenzo and Michele A. Floriano
Implementing New Educational Platforms in the Classroom: An Interactive Approach to the Particle in a Box Problem ~ Vinícius Wilian D. Cruzeiro, Xiang Gao, and Valeria D. Kleiman
Active Learning Activities
Graphing Activity for the First General Chemistry Lab Session to Introduce Data Processing ~ D. Brandon Magers, Patricia L. Stan, and Daniel A. King
Stereochemistry Game: Creating and Playing a Fun Board Game To Engage Students in Reviewing Stereochemistry Concepts ~ José Nunes da Silva Júnior, Daniel Esdras de Andrade Uchoa, Mary Anne Sousa Lima, and André Jalles Monteiro
Exploring Biased Probability Using Loaded Dice: An Active Learning Exercise with Analogy to Entropic and Energetic Determinants of Equilibria in Chemical Systems ~ James A. Hebda and Zachary Aamold
Engaging Polymer Chemistry Activities
Polymers, Giant Molecules with Properties: An Entertaining Activity Introducing Polymers to Young Students ~ Nejla B. Erdal, Minna Hakkarainen, and Anders G. Blomqvist
Polymer Processing Demonstrations Using PET Bottles ~ Alfredo Luis M. L. Mateus
Experimenting with Flavor and Food
Implementation of an Accessible Gas Chromatography Laboratory Experiment for High School Students ~ Gannon P. Connor, Daniel Kim, Alexandra L. Nagelski, Emily O. Schmidt, Tori Hass-Mitchell, John T. Atwater, Sara A. Tridenti, Seungjung Sohn, and Patrick L. Holland
Preparation and Characterization of a Flavor Compound Inclusion Complex in a Simple Experiment ~ Guangyong Zhu and Genfa Yu
Comment on “Identification of Edible Oils by Principal Component Analysis of 1H NMR Spectra” ~ Tai-Sheng Yeh
Reply to “Comment on ‘Identification of Edible Oils by Principal Component Analysis of 1H NMR Spectra” ~ David Rovnyak and Timothy G. Strein
Organic Chemistry Laboratories
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Paper-Based Devices for the Detection of Acetaminophen and Phenacetin in an Advanced Undergraduate Laboratory ~ Teresa L. Mako and Mindy Levine
Stereochemistry of Dichlorocarbene Addition to Alkenes: A Collaborative, Discovery-Based Experiment for the Organic Chemistry Laboratory ~ Nguyen Nhat Thu Le, Edmund J. Klinkerch, and Dasan M. Thamattoor
Globally Distributed Drug Discovery of New Antibiotics: Design and Combinatorial Synthesis of Amino Acid Derivatives in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory ~ Amy B. Dounay, Martin J. O’Donnell, J. Geno Samaritoni, Lukasz Popiolek, Douglas Schirch, Anna Biernasiuk, Anna Malm, Isaac W. Lamb, Kristen Mudrack, Daniel G. Rivera, Gerardo M. Ojeda, and William L. Scott
Synthesis of Flufenamic Acid: An Organic Chemistry Lab Sequence Using Boronic Acids and Nitrosoarenes under Transition-Metal-Free Conditions ~ Silvia Roscales and Aurelio G. Csákÿ
Introduction to Covalent Organic Frameworks: An Advanced Organic Chemistry Experiment ~ María José Mancheño, Sergio Royuela, A. de la Peña, Mar Ramos, Félix Zamora, and José L. Segura
Spectroscopy Laboratories
An Undergraduate Experiment To Explore Cu(II) Coordination Environment in Multihistidine Compounds through Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy ~ Eugene P. Wagner, Kai C. Gronborg, Shreya Ghosh, and Sunil Saxena
Studying the Effect of Temperature on the Formation of Hydrogen Bond Dimers: A FTIR and Computational Chemistry Lab for Undergraduate Students ~ P. G. Rodríguez Ortega, M. Montejo, M. S. Valera, and J. J. López González
Analysis of Double Bond Conversion of Photopolymerizable Monomers by FTIR-ATR Spectroscopy ~ Ana M. Herrera-González, Martín Caldera-Villalobos, Alma A. Pérez-Mondragón, Carlos E. Cuevas-Suárez, and J. Abraham González-López
Acid-Base Chemistry
An Acid–Base Battery with Oxygen Electrodes: A Laboratory Demonstration of Electrochemical Power Sources ~ Guo-Ming Weng, Chi-Ying Vanessa Li, and Kwong-Yu Chan
Simple and Economical Procedure To Assemble pH Glass Membrane Electrodes Used in Chemical Education ~ Fang Yong, Qiuhong Zhu, Guohao Zhang, Guohong Tao, and Song Qin
Using pH Indicator To Demonstrate Supercapacitor Reactions ~ Emily Traver, Jamie E. Stark, Gianna Aleman Milán, and Heather A. Andreas
From the Archives: Polymer Properties
In Polymer Processing Demonstrations Using PET Bottles, Alfredo Luis M. L. Mateus describes how polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles can be used in a series of demonstrations to highlight the technological aspects of their production. This article is discussed in detail in Erica Jacobsen’s Especially JCE: August 2019.
Polyethylene terephthalate has been explored in a number of ways in past issues, including:
Demonstrating the Effects of Processing on the Structure and Physical Properties of Plastic Using Disposable PETE Cups ~ Kendra A. Erk, Morgan Rhein, Matthew J. Krafcik, and Sophie Ydstie
An Introduction to Polymer Processing, Morphology, and Property Relationships through Thermal Analysis of Plastic PET Bottles. Exercises Designed to Introduce Students to Polymer Physical Properties ~ H. Darrell Iler, Eric Rutt, and Seth Althoff
Thermal Analysis of Plastics ~ Teresa D'Amico, Craig J. Donahue, and Elizabeth A. Rais
Sorting Recycled Trash: An Activity for Earth Day 2007 ~ Mary E. Harris and Harold H. Harris
A Novel, Simplified Scheme for Plastics Identification ~ Mary E. Harris and Barbara Walker
A Laboratory Use for Discarded Plastic Beverage Bottles ~John N. Aronson
Special Issue: Polymer Concepts across the Curriculum ~ November 2017 issue
JCE: Your Bridge to the Future
Catalyze your chemistry teaching and learning with over 96 volumes of articles to explore in the Journal of Chemical Education —including the articles mentioned above. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available.
Do you have something to share? Write it up for the Journal! For example, consider submitting a contribution to the Special Issue on Chemical Safety Education: Methods, Culture, and Green Chemistry (submission deadline: February 3, 2020) or to the Special Issue on Chemical Security (submission deadline: September 9, 2019). Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary provides excellent advice about becoming an author. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including Author Guidelines and Document Templates. In addition, the ACS Publishing Center, has resources for preparing and reviewing manuscripts for ACS journals.