Inspiring Teaching and Learning Chemistry for 97 Years
The January 2020 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: activities using household materials; escape rooms; demonstrations; health-oriented experiments; microplastics; environmental chemistry labs; fluorescence; surface chemistry; cost-effective equipment; augmented & virtual reality; laboratory curriculum; examining learning in general chemistry; organic chemistry teaching resource; from the archives: developing oral communication skills.
Cover: Rainbow Colors Using Polarizers
Transparent polymers become strikingly colored when sandwiched between polarizers: such coloration can be demonstrated with many everyday materials. In Rainbow Colors Generated by Viewing Transparent Polymers through Polarizers, Daisuke Kajiya describes a suite of demonstrations and activities with strong visual impact that can stimulate interest in the interaction between light and matter. These scalable learning activities can be performed in a classroom with students ranging from elementary school to college and use supplies that are readily available and portable.
Additional activities in this issue using household materials include:
Stepwise Approach to Hess’s Law Using Household Desiccants: A Laboratory Learning Program for High School Chemistry Courses ~ Satoki Kodani, Masahiro Fukuda, Yoji Tsuboi, and Nobuyoshi Koga
Teaching Electrochemistry with Common Objects: Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation of Acetol with U.S. Coins ~ Chun Ho Lam and James E. Jackson
Modeling of Nanomolecular and Reticular Architectures with 6-fold Grooved, Programmable Interlocking Disks ~ Aleksandar Kondinski, Jens Moons, Yujie Zhang, Jakob Bussé, Wim De Borggraeve, Erik Nies, and Tatjana N. Parac-Vogt
Editorial
In “Hello, I Must Be Going”, Norbert J. Pienta says farewell in his final editorial as editor-in-chief, which includes a review of Volume 96 and some parting comments upon retiring from his post of 10 years.
Escape Rooms
ChemEscape: Educational Battle Box Puzzle Activities for Engaging Outreach and Active Learning in General Chemistry ~ Marissa L. Clapson, Brian Gilbert, Vivian J. Mozol, Shauna Schechtel, Judy Tran, and Stephen White
Do-It-Yourself: Creating and Implementing a Periodic Table of the Elements Chemical Escape Room ~ Malka Yayon, Shelley Rap, Vered Adler, Inbar Haimovich, Hagit Levy, and Ron Blonder
Demonstrations
Kinetic Modeling of and Effect of Candy Additives on the Candy–Cola Soda Geyser: Experiments for Elementary School Science through Physical Chemistry ~ Thomas S. Kuntzleman, Jezrielle Annis, Hazel Anderson, Joshua B. Kenney, and Ninad Doctor (also at ChemEdX: Tom Kuntzleman on this topic: Exploring the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment and Soda Geysers in the JCE Archives)
The Purple Flask: A Novel Reformulation of the Blue Bottle Reaction ~ Richard B. Weinberg
Aluminum Metal Digestion as a Demonstration of an Oscillating Voltage Reaction: An Application Beyond the Textbook ~ Cathy L. Cobb, Wilson Haddock, and Monty L. Fetterolf
Setting Up Chemistry Demonstrations According to the Left-to-Right Principle: An Eye-Movement-Pattern-Based Analysis ~ Andreas Nehring and Sebastian Busch
Health-Oriented Experiments
Urinalysis and Prenatal Health: Evaluation of a Simple Experiment That Connects Organic Functional Groups to Health Equity ~ Ginevra A. Clark, Marisha L. Humphries, Jessica Perez, Stella Udoetuk, Kruti Bhatt, Jennifer P. Domingo, Megan Garcia, Patrick L. Daubenmire, Nazminbano Mansuri, and Maripat King
Naked-Eye Detection of Aluminum in Gastric Drugs on a Paper-Based Analytical Device ~ Heyun Lai, Ziqi Li, Shunying Zhu, Longfei Cai, Chunxiu Xu, and Qing Zhou
Microplastics
Microplastics Outreach Program: A Systems-Thinking Approach To Teach High School Students about the Chemistry and Impacts of Plastics ~ Jamie M. Schiffer, Johnnie Lyman, Debra Byrd, Hercules Silverstein, and Mathew D. Halls
Detecting and Quantifying Microplastics in Bottled Water using Fluorescence Microscopy: A New Experiment for Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry Courses ~ Austin Scircle and James V. Cizdziel
Environmental Chemistry Labs
Determining the Effect of pH on Iron Oxidation Kinetics in Aquatic Environments: Exploring a Fundamental Chemical Reaction To Grasp the Significant Ecosystem Implications of Iron Bioavailability ~ Matthew E. Kirby, Jay C. Bullen, M. D. Hanif, Hany Fathy Heiba, Fengjie Liu, George H. R. Northover, Eleonore Resongles, and Dominik J. Weiss
Introducing Students to Remediation of Polluted Soils: Influence of Waste-Based Amendments on Cd Extractability ~ Antı́a Gómez Armesto, Juan Carlos Nóvoa Muñoz, Manuel Arias Estévez, Avelino Núñez Delgado, Esperanza Álvarez Rodríguez, and Marı́a José Fernández Sanjurjo
Analysis of Pesticides in Plant Foods by QuEChERS and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry: An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment ~ Matt J. Hengel, Jon W. Wong, Zachary C. Redman, Caitlin Rering, and Katryn L. Williams
Green Analytical Chemistry Experiment: Quantitative Analysis of Iron in Supplement Tablets with Vis spectrophotometry Using Tea Extract as a Chromogenic Agent ~ Somchai Lapanantnoppakhun, Urai Tengjaroensakul, Pitchaya Mungkornasawakul, Chanida Puangpila, Sila Kittiwachana, Jeeraphithak Saengtempiam, and Supaporn Kradtap Hartwell
Fluorescence
Carbon Nanoparticles from Lactose and Baking Soda: Light Absorption and Fluorescence ~ Benedikt Klobes and Christine Koch
Synthesis of Fluorescent Silver Nanoclusters: Introducing Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches to Nanochemistry in a Single Laboratory Class ~ Lin Zhu, Mustafa Gharib, Charline Becker, Yuan Zeng, Anna R. Ziefuß, Lizhen Chen, Alaaldin M. Alkilany, Christoph Rehbock, Stephan Barcikowski, Wolfgang J. Parak, and Indranath Chakraborty
“It’s Fundamental”: Quantum Dot Blinking Experiment to Teach Critical Thinking ~ Laszlo Frazer, Heather F. Higginbotham, Toby D. M. Bell, and Alison M. Funston
NMR Spectroscopy
Basics of Fourier Transform Applied to NMR Spectroscopy: An Interactive Open-Source Web Application ~ Yannick J. Esvan and Wael Zeinyeh
Synthesis of a Diaryliodonium Salt and Its Use in the Direct Arylation of Indole: A Two-Step Experiment for the Organic Teaching Laboratory ~ Aisling M. Prendergast, Rachel Shanahan, Aobha Hickey, Francis Harrington, David Schönbauer, Peter A. Byrne, Michael Schnürch, and Gerard P. McGlacken
Carbohydrate Characterization through Multidimensional NMR: An Undergraduate Organic Laboratory Experiment ~ Jacob S. Kennedy, Garrett E. Larson, Alex Blumenfeld, and Kristopher V. Waynant
Surface Chemistry
Quick and Easy Electroless Deposition and Alkanethiol Treatment To Form a Superhydrophobic Surface ~ Fabian Dauzvardis, Alexander Knapp, Kaung Nan Dar Shein, and George Lisensky
Introducing Aggregation-Induced Emission to Students by Visual Techniques Demonstrating Micelle Formation with Thin-Layer Chromatography ~ Tao Wang, Weidong Yin, Shaoxiong Zhang, Zhao Li, Shengjun Zhang, Bo Zhang, and Hengchang Ma
Cost-Effective Equipment
A Small All-in-One Photon-Counting Device for Measuring Luminescence Decays to Determine the Lifetimes of Photoexcited Materials ~ Yasuo Matsubara and Akitaka Ito
Robust, Efficient, and Economical Magnetic Stirrer: A Device Based on Pulsed Width Modulation, Built Using Mainly Recycled Parts ~ Afraz Subratti, Lorale J. Lalgee, and Nigel K. Jalsa
SweepStat: A Build-It-Yourself, Two-Electrode Potentiostat for Macroelectrode and Ultramicroelectrode Studies ~ Matthew W. Glasscott, Matthew D. Verber, Jackson R. Hall, Andrew D. Pendergast, Collin J. McKinney, and Jeffrey E. Dick
3D Printing
Applications of 3D-Printing for Improving Chemistry Education ~ Cody W. Pinger, Morgan K. Geiger, and Dana M. Spence
Creating Atom Representations Using Open-Source, Stackable 3D Printed Interlocking Pieces with Tactile Features to Support Chemical Equation Writing for Sighted and Visually Impaired Students ~ Ishu Singhal and B. S. Balaji
3D-Printed Microfluidics for Hands-On Undergraduate Laboratory Experiments ~ Matthew T. Vangunten, Uriah J. Walker, Han G. Do, and Kyle N. Knust
Augmented & Virtual Reality
Usability Testing and the Development of an Augmented Reality Application for Laboratory Learning ~ Jiwoo An, Laila-Parvin Poly, and Thomas A. Holme
BiochemAR: An Augmented Reality Educational Tool for Teaching Macromolecular Structure and Function ~ Rou-Jia Sung, Andrew T. Wilson, Stanley M. Lo, Logan M. Crowl, Joseph Nardi, Katie St. Clair, and Jane M. Liu
Creating Augmented Reality USDZ Files to Visualize 3D Objects on Student Phones in the Classroom ~ Babak Sanii
Production and Evaluation of a Realistic Immersive Virtual Reality Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experience: Infrared Spectroscopy ~ Cathi L. Dunnagan, Devran A. Dannenberg, Michael P. Cuales, Arthur D. Earnest, Richard M. Gurnsey, and Maria T. Gallardo-Williams
Laboratory Curriculum
Investing in Laboratory Courses ~ Rebecca Sansom and Joi P. Walker
Adapting Meaningful Learning Strategies to Teach Liquid–Liquid Extractions ~ Nancy Wu, Tomohiro Kubo, Ariana O. Hall, Danielle M. Zurcher, Sameer Phadke, Rachel L. Wallace, and Anne J. McNeil
Effect of an Application-Based Laboratory Curriculum on Student Understanding of Societal Impact of Chemistry in an Accelerated General Chemistry Course ~ Leonard. T. Demoranville, Olivia R. Kane, and Karin J. Young
Understanding the Specific Technical Requirements Needed for Successful Transitioning to a Workplace and the Chemistry Undergraduate Course Syllabi: A Case Study ~ Clarence Wei Wen Wong, Hui Yi Goh, and Yue Ying Ong
A Study To Reduce Chemical Waste Generated in Chemistry Teaching Laboratories ~ Hui Yi Goh, Wei Wen Clarence Wong, and Yue Ying Ong
Student Perceptions of Their Gains in Course-Based Undergraduate Research Abilities Identified as the Anticipated Learning Outcomes for a Biochemistry CURE ~ Stefan M. Irby, Nancy J. Pelaez, and Trevor R. Anderson
Examining Learning in General Chemistry
Problem-Solving Behaviors of Different Achievement Groups on Multiple-Choice Questions in General Chemistry ~ Melonie A. Teichert, Maria J. Schroeder, Shirley Lin, Debra K. Dillner, Regis Komperda, and Diane M. Bunce
Undergraduate Chemistry Students’ Epistemic Criteria for Scientific Models ~ Katherine Lazenby, Avery Stricker, Alexandra Brandriet, Charlie A. Rupp, and Nicole M. Becker
Dissecting the Flipped Classroom: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial Experiment to Determine When Student Learning Occurs ~ Matthew D. Casselman, Kinnari Atit, Grace Henbest, Cybill Guregyan, Kiana Mortezaei, and Jack F. Eichler
Leveling the Field: Flipped Instruction as a Tool for Promoting Equity in General Chemistry ~ Senetta F. Bancroft, Samantha R. Fowler, Mohammadreza Jalaeian, and Katie Patterson
Organic Chemistry Teaching Resource
OrganicERs: Building a Community of Practice for Organic Chemistry Instructors through Workshops and Web-Based Resources ~ Alexey Leontyev, Justin B. Houseknecht, Vincent Maloney, Jennifer L. Muzyka, Robert Rossi, Catherine O. Welder, and Leyte Winfield
From the Archives: Developing Oral Communication Skills
The January issue includes the paper Reimagining an Oral Presentation Assignment as a TED Talk Improves Student Oral Presentations, Leading to More Significant Learning by Roland P. Stout. Strong oral communication skills are essential for a chemist and additional methods for helping students develop these skills have been discussed in papers such as:
A Chemistry Minute: Recognizing Chemistry in Our Daily Lives ~ Dianne J. Luning Prak and Christine L. Copper
The Three-Minute Slide as an Effective Tool for Developing Oral Communication Skills ~ Michelle S. Applebee, Ami P. Johanson, Kimberly A. Lawler-Sagarin, Eugene N. Losey, and Colleen Munro-Leighton
Scientific Communication for Chemistry Majors: A New Course ~ Gail M. Meyer
An Integrated Professional and Transferable Skills Course for Undergraduate Chemistry Students ~ S. Salman Ashraf, Sayed A. M. Marzouk, Ihsan A. Shehadi, and Brian M. Murphy
Exit Interviews: Laboratory Assessment Incorporating Written and Oral Communication ~ Garland L. Crawford and Kathryn D. Kloepper
Combining Chemical Information Literacy, Communication Skills, Career Preparation, Ethics, and Peer Review in a Team-Taught Chemistry Course ~ Mary Lou Baker Jones and Paul G. Seybold
Developing Students’ Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Analysis Skills in an Inquiry-Based Synthetic Organic Laboratory Course ~ Marisa G. Weaver, Andrey V. Samoshin, Robert B. Lewis, and Morgan J. Gainer
Using Infographic Creation as Tool for Science-Communication Assessment and a Means of Connecting Students to Their Departmental Research ~ Richard A. R. Blackburn
At ChemEdX: The Mole Storytelling Jam - An Interview with the Creators ~ Deanna Cullen
Let JCE Inspire You
Explore ideas for teaching and learning of chemistry in the 1,156 issues of the Journal of Chemical Education —including the January 2020 issue described above. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available. (For more information on how to access the articles cited above, see Deanna Cullen’s post on Accessing Cited Articles.)
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). 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.