Teaching Chemistry from Rich Contexts
The August 2017 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: visualizing the chemistry of climate change; environmental chemistry; chemistry education for medical preprofessionals; tools for learning and student engagement; training laboratory teaching assistants; biochemistry; forensic chemistry; nanoparticle experiments; materials science; resources for teaching; from the archives: climate change.
On the Cover: Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change
Striking changes to earth’s climate are increasingly visible in scenes such as the shrinking and disappearance of glaciers. Superimposed on the cover photograph of a calving Alaska glacier is the iconic Keeling curve, showing how atmospheric CO2 levels have increased over the past 60 years. Chemical substances act as control variables for many of our earth systems, yet the chemistry at work in climate change and other threatened earth systems receives little attention in undergraduate chemistry courses or programs. In the article, Beyond “Inert” Ideas to Teaching General Chemistry from Rich Contexts: Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change (VC3), Peter Mahaffy, Thomas Holme, Leah Martin-Visscher, Brian Martin, Ashley Versprille, Mary Kirchhoff, Lallie McKenzie, and Marcy Towns provide an exemplar for introducing students in general chemistry courses to a set of core chemistry concepts (isotopes, acids−bases, gases, and thermochemistry) through rich contexts drawn from climate science literacy. (This article is available to non-subscribers as part of the ACS Editors' Choice program.)
For additional environmental chemistry content in this issue, see:
Social and Environmental Justice in the Chemistry Classroom ~ Grace A. Lasker, Karolina E. Mellor, Melissa L. Mullins, Suzanne M. Nesmith, and Nancy J. Simcox
Campus as a Living Laboratory for Sustainability: The Chemistry Connection ~ Timothy Lindstrom and Catherine Middlecamp
Using Beads and Divided Containers To Study Kinetic and Equilibrium Isotope Effects in the Laboratory and in the Classroom ~ Dean J. Campbell, Emily R. Brewer, Keri A. Martinez, and Tamara J. Fitzjarrald
Understanding Our Energy Footprint: Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory Investigation of Environmental Impacts of Solid Fossil Fuel Wastes ~ Michael Berger and Jillian L. Goldfarb
Improving Student Understanding of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis via GC/MS using a Rapid SPME-Based Method for Determination of Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water ~ Shu Rong Huang and Peter T. Palmer
Is the Total Concentration of a Heavy Metal in Soil a Suitable Tool for Assessing the Environmental Risk? Considering the Case of Copper ~ David Fernández-Calviño, Paula Pérez-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Nóvoa-Muñoz, and Manuel Arias Estévez
Paper-Based Heavy Metal Sensors from the Concise Synthesis of an Anionic Porphyrin: A Practical Application of Organic Synthesis to Environmental Chemistry ~ Jutamat Prabpal, Tirayut Vilaivan, and Thanit Praneenararat
Chemistry Education for Medical Preprofessionals
In the Editorial this month, Norbert Pienta discusses The Role of Chemistry Education for Medical Preprofessionals. Other material on the topic of education in healthcare includes:
Dialysis, Albumin Binding, and Competitive Binding: A Laboratory Lesson Relating Three Chemical Concepts to Healthcare ~ Jennifer P. Domingo, Mohammed Abualia, Diana Barragan, Lianne Schroeder, Donald J. Wink, Maripat King, and Ginevra A. Clark
Threaded Introductory Chemistry for Prepharmacy: A Model for Preprofessional Curriculum Redesign ~ Benjamin S. Barth and Ehren C. Bucholtz
Teaching Analytical Method Transfer through Developing and Validating Then Transferring Dissolution Testing Methods for Pharmaceuticals ~ Irene Kimaru, Marina Koether, Kimberly Chichester, and Lafayette Eaton
Determining the Ibuprofen Concentration in Liquid-Filled Gelatin Capsules To Practice Collecting and Interpreting Experimental Data, and Evaluating the Methods and Accuracy of Quality Testing~ Nial J. Wheate, Michael G. Apps, Hazer Khalifa, Alan Doughty, and Alpesh Ramanlal Patel
Tools for Learning and Student Engagement
A Learner-Centered Grading Method Focused on Reaching Proficiency with Course Learning Outcomes ~ Santiago Toledo and Justin M. Dubas
Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM Subjects ~ Sylvia Urban
Supplemental Learning in the Laboratory: An Innovative Approach for Evaluating Knowledge and Method Transfer ~ Melissa D. Carter, Sarah S. Pierce, Albert D. Dukes III, Rebecca H. Brown, Brian S. Crow, Rebecca L. Shaner, Leila Heidari, Samantha L. Isenberg, Jonas W. Perez, Leigh Ann Graham, Jerry D. Thomas, Rudolph C. Johnson, and Aren E. Gerdon
Training Laboratory Teaching Assistants
Aligning Perceptions of Laboratory Demonstrators’ Responsibilities To Inform the Design of a Laboratory Teacher Development Program ~ Aishling Flaherty, Anne O’Dwyer, Patricia Mannix-McNamara, and JJ Leahy
Transforming a Traditional Laboratory to an Inquiry-Based Course: Importance of Training TAs when Redesigning a Curriculum ~ Lindsay B. Wheeler, Charles P. Clark, and Charles M. Grisham
Biochemistry
Promotion of Spatial Skills in Chemistry and Biochemistry Education at the College Level ~ Maria Oliver-Hoyo and Melissa A. Babilonia-Rosa
Site-Directed Mutagenesis Study of an Antibiotic-Sensing Noncoding RNA Integrated into a One-Semester Project-Based Biochemistry Lab Course ~ Timea Gerczei
Investigating Enzyme Active-Site Geometry and Stereoselectivity in an Undergraduate Biochemistry Lab ~ Saeed Roschdi and Theodore J. Gries
Forensic Chemistry
A Case-Based Scenario with Interdisciplinary Guided-Inquiry in Chemistry and Biology: Experiences of First Year Forensic Science Students ~ Sarah L. Cresswell and Wendy A. Loughlin
A Forensic Experiment: The Case of the Crime at the Cinema ~ J. M. Valente Nabais and Sara D. Costa
Nanoparticle Experiments
Seed-Mediated Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles of Controlled Sizes To Demonstrate the Impact of Size on Optical Properties ~ Julie A. Jenkins, Terianna J. Wax, and Jing Zhao
Carbon Dots: A Modular Activity To Teach Fluorescence and Nanotechnology at Multiple Levels ~ Susan N. Pham, Joshua E. Kuether, Miranda J. Gallagher, Rodrigo Tapia Hernandez, Denise N. Williams, Bo Zhi, Arielle C. Mensch, Robert J. Hamers, Zeev Rosenzweig, Howard Fairbrother, Miriam O.P. Krause, Z. Vivian Feng, and Christy L. Haynes
Synthesis of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots ~ Mikhail Shekhirev, John Goza, Jacob D. Teeter, Alexey Lipatov, and Alexander Sinitskii
Materials Science
Preparing, Characterizing, and Investigating Luminescent Properties of a Series of Long-Lasting Phosphors in a SrO–Al2O3 System: An Integrated and Inquiry-Based Experiment in Solid State Chemistry for the Undergraduate Laboratory ~ Yan-Zi Ma, Li Jia, Kai-Guo Ma, Hai-Hong Wang, and Xi-Ping Jing
Volcano Plot for Bimetallic Catalysts in Hydrogen Generation by Hydrolysis of Sodium Borohydride ~ Anais Koska, Nikola Toshikj, Sandra Hoett, Laurent Bernaud, and Umit B. Demirci
Lithium Ion Battery Cathode Materials as a Case Study To Support the Teaching of Ionic Solids ~ Paolo Coppo
Resources for Teaching
Teaching Simulation and Computer-Aided Separation Optimization in Liquid Chromatography by Means of Illustrative Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets ~ S. Fasoula, P. Nikitas, and A. Pappa-Louisi
Construction of Inexpensive Vortex Mixers ~ Ben Ruekberg
Pericyclic or Pseudopericyclic? The Case of an Allylic Transposition in the Synthesis of a Saccharin Derivative ~ Stephanie R. Hare and Dean J. Tantillo
Reply to “Pericyclic or Pseudopericyclic? The Case of an Allylic Transposition in the Synthesis of a Saccharin Derivative” ~ Custódia S. C. Fonseca
From the Archives: Climate ChangeIn the cover article, Beyond “Inert” Ideas to Teaching General Chemistry from Rich Contexts: Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change (VC3), Peter G. Mahaffy, Thomas A. Holme, Leah Martin-Visscher, Brian E. Martin, Ashley Versprille, Mary Kirchhoff, Lallie McKenzie, and Marcy Towns emphasize the critical importance of teaching students about the chemistry at work in climate change. Examples of past articles in JCE on the topic of climate change that can help support this effort include:
Assessing Student Knowledge of Chemistry and Climate Science Concepts Associated with Climate Change: Resources To Inform Teaching and Learning ~ Ashley Versprille, Adam Zabih, Thomas A. Holme, Lallie McKenzie, Peter Mahaffy, Brian Martin, and Marcy Towns
General Chemistry Students’ Understanding of Climate Change and the Chemistry Related to Climate Change ~ Ashley N. Versprille and Marcy H. Towns
Updating a Student-Generated Ice-Core Data Plot Exercise for Courses Investigating Climate Change Topics ~ Edward Maslowsky, Jr.
Using the Socioscientific Context of Climate Change To Teach Chemical Content and the Nature of Science ~ Charity Flener-Lovitt
A Simple, Student-Built Spectrometer To Explore Infrared Radiation and Greenhouse Gases ~ Mitchell R. M. Bruce, Tiffany A. Wilson, Alice E. Bruce, S. Max Bessey, and Virginia J. Flood
ConfChem Conference: A Virtual Colloquium to Sustain and Celebrate IYC 2011 Initiatives in Global Chemical Education: Visualizing and Understanding the Science of Climate Change ~ Peter G. Mahaffy, Brian E. Martin, Anna Schwalfenberg, Darrell Vandenbrink, and Darren Eymundson
Climate Change: A Demonstration with a Teaching Moment ~ Steven Murov
Climate Change and Its Effect on Coral Reefs ~ Ralph E. Weston Jr.
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect: Is Global Warming Real? An Integrated Lab-Lecture Case Study for Non-science Majors ~ R. Brzenk, A. Moore, M. J. Alfano, P. T. Buckley, M. E. Newman, and Frank M. Dunnivant
Chemistry’s Contributions to Our Understanding of Atmospheric Science and Climate ~ Vicki H. Grassian and Elizabeth A. Stone
Available at ChemEdX:
Chemical Connections to Climate Change ~ Tom Kuntzleman
Resource to Help You Combat Climate Science Denial ~ Tom Kuntzleman
Look to JCE for Many Rich Teaching Contexts
With over 94 years of content from the Journal of Chemical Education available, you will always meaningful content—including the articles mentioned above, and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available.