In a previous blog post, I shared my thoughts about the importance of science teachers (and all teachers, really) supporting their claims about lesson efficacy with evidence. While this doesn’t always need to be a formal research study, it can often be valuable to publish findings that will be helpful to other science teachers.
If videos are the method of choice for my students’ free time learning, then why do they sometimes struggle to hear and make sense of the chemistry content in the short teaching videos created by their teacher?
These tenets set PBL (the big once-per-semester projects) apart from day to day activities and inquiry:
PBL poses an authentic problem with multiple solutions.
PBL requires core subject knowledge to propose solutions to a problem to an authentic audience.
Like many of our readers I am a charter member of the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT).
My IB chemistry class is currently working its way through organic chemistry. One of the topics studied is the free-radical mechanism for the halogenation of an alkane.
The May 2015 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers at http://pubs.acs.org/toc/jceda8/92/5. This issue includes articles on drugs & pharmaceuticals; health; food; plants; exploring viscosity; new approaches to teaching organic chemistry; computer-assisted learning; scents & flavors.
An advantage to teaching on the trimester schedule allows me the opportunity to teach the same course again roughly twelve weeks later. So after grading my 2nd trimester students’ Chemistry B final exams, I was able to evaluate certain topics that caused my students problems, reflect on my teaching, and then determine how I was going to better prepare my students in the 3rd trimester chemistry B class.
n teaching we regularly change our class structures and routines and we implement new “interventions” in hopes of changing classroom dynamics or reaching more students. I know that most of the time I make these decisions based upon anecdotal evidence, perhaps after glancing at a handful of exit tickets from my students or based upon how I “felt” the class went. Recently, though, I’m finding myself a little more hesitant when making a claim about my class. I require that my students support their claims with evidence, so why wouldn’t I also support mine with evidence?
I have been involved in several types of community outreach projects to promote science education and chemistry. One of the best was a biannual event I worked on with teachers from each elementary school in our district and from our middle school. It was a Science Extravaganza.
An outline for the Halloween Chemistry Show Demonstration at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame IN, is presented. Organized by Saint Mary’s Affiliate of the American Chemical Society (SMAACS) student club, this show has become an annual event with an average attendance of over 200 people. The club’s main goal is to generate interest in the sciences among children; while stimulating a pursuit for continued education and hopefully future careers in STEM fields. The Halloween Chemistry Show aspires to that goal by providing an interactive experience for all children in attendance while presenting thought-provoking demonstrations for the entire audience.
