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Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment

Big Ideas – Missing in Action in the Chemistry Curriculum

Emeric Schultz | Fri, 09/02/2016 - 12:59

The genesis of this paper started with a request from a former student, Thomas Kuntzleman, now a professor of chemistry. He asked if I would consider submitting my thoughts about ‘big ideas’ in chemistry. In his email he attached a paper that I had written for the Journal of Chemical Education six years earlier1. That article was submitted the year after I retired and was a response to a submission questioning the utility of the Principle of Le Châtelier.  

Representing Molecules

Doug Ragan | Tue, 07/26/2016 - 15:03

A quick search on Amazon for a package of 144 ping pong balls and a trip to the arts and crafts store for paint, magnets, and glue and I was ready to start making my own class set of model kits.

Is Your Department NGSS Ready? A Review of “What Professional Development Strategies Are Needed for Successful Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards?” by Brian J. Reiser

Michelle Okroy | Tue, 05/03/2016 - 00:32

Although each individual educator has their own approach to improving their curriculum, many will be spending their time off aligning their curriculum to the Next Generation Science Standards. The idea of revising curriculum for each and every course can be daunting as educators try to identify a common theme that can be applied throughout the entire department. So where do we start? How do we thread a common theme for the professional development provided in our subject area?
 

App Review - Classkick

Doug Ragan | Thu, 04/21/2016 - 23:00

As many teachers are preparing to teach online, we are revisiting posts from the ChemEd X archives like this one that might be of help. The author has updated this activity by adding notes specifically to help those teaching remotely. This post about Classkick was originally published April 22, 2016. The platform is now all web based and Doug has compiled a list of public assignments that you are free to modify for your own use.

Integrating Three Types of Chemical Representation

Erica Posthuma | Mon, 02/08/2016 - 15:40

This past summer our conversations turned to, “How can we improve our instruction to try and prevent the initial misunderstanding?” We had all read Dorothy Gabel’s article Improving Teaching and Learning Through Chemistry Education Research: A Look to the Future. We were intrigued by the author's description of the three fold system of representing concepts in chemistry.

 

Standards-Based Grading in the Chemistry Classroom

Lauren Stewart | Fri, 01/22/2016 - 11:12

An educational reform that has been gaining a large amount of popularity in the last decade is standards-based grading (SBG). The heart of the SBG movement is truly rooted in one very important question, “what do you want your grades mean?”