Blogs

ChemEd X contributors offer their ideas and opinions on a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to chemical education.

Blogs at ChemEd X reflect the opinions of the contributors and are open to comments. Only selected contributors blog at ChemEd X. If you would like to blog regularly at ChemEd X, please use our Contribution form to request an invitation to do so from one of our editors.

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Kool-aid, Cotton, and Intermolecular Forces
// Tuesday, October 4, 2016 • Tom Kuntzleman
Each year, I try out some experiments that connect to the annual National Chemistry Week (NCW) theme. The theme for NCW this year is “Forensics: Solving Mysteries through Chemistry: Focusing on the chemistry of fibers and forensics”. Based on this description, I decided to spend some time experimenting with dyeing fibers.
forensics practicum
Practicums in Chemistry
// Saturday, October 1, 2016 • Lauren Stewart
If you are familiar with Modeling Instruction in physics, you know there are awesome assessments at the end of units called practicums. First, let me distinguish between practicals and practicums. The purpose of a lab practical typically is to assess a student’s ability to collect and analyze data.
footsteps
Walking in the Footsteps of Scientists Who Came Before Us
// Monday, September 26, 2016 • Laura Slocum
I know that many of you teach chemistry in a traditional order of topics -- atoms, bonding, reactions, stoichiometry, etc. However, I walked away from that order six years ago and started teaching in a chronological order when I began using Modeling Instruction in my classroom. During the second year of "walking in the footprints of the scient
Lab practicals
Supporting Individual Lab Accountability in Large Science Classes
// Monday, September 19, 2016 • Allison Tarvin
How do teachers encourage building individual lab skills in classes of over 30 students where labs are done in groups of five or six students? My science department collaborates daily, and we have been discussing this concern for a few years now. Many trials and errors have occurred. Here is where we stand today: