New Perspectives on Teaching Chemistry
The May 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: electrochemistry and corrosion; textbooks; research on the chemistry teacher pipeline, argument-driven inquiry, and online homework; using everyday objects to teach; teaching organic chemistry with games; communication and writing; examining and creating innovative curriculum; computer-aided discovery activities; exploring kinetics; interdisciplinary laboratory investigations; from the archives: applications of 3D printing for teaching chemistry.
Cover: Teaching Electrochemistry through Corrosion
Corrosion is a major concern for all seagoing vessels and represents the single greatest maintenance cost to U.S. military assets and civilian infrastructure. In Teaching Electrochemistry in the General Chemistry Laboratory through Corrosion Exercises, Richard W. Sanders, Gregory L. Crettol, Joseph D. Brown, Patrick T. Plummer, Tara M. Schendorf, Alex Oliphant, Susan B. Swithenbank, Robert F. Ferrante, and Joshua P. Gray describe a laboratory exercise demonstrating the different types of corrosion, the electrochemistry involved, and common methods of preventing corrosion.
For another experiment on corrosion in this issue, see:
Using Quenching To Detect Corrosion on Sculptural Metalwork: A Real-World Application of Fluorescence Spectroscopy ~ Cory Hensen, Tami Lasseter Clare, and Jack Barbera
For additional content on electrochemistry in this issue, see:
Iodine Coulometry of Various Reducing Agents Including Thiols with Online Photocell Detection Coupled to a Multifunctional Chemical Analysis Station To Eliminate Student End Point Detection by Eye ~ Jeralyne B. Padilla Mercado, Eri M. Coombs, Jenny P. De Jesus, Stacey Lowery Bretz, and Neil D. Danielson
Recycling Metals from Spent Screen-Printed Electrodes While Learning the Fundamentals of Electrochemical Sensing ~ María-Isabel González-Sánchez, Beatriz Gómez-Monedero, Jerónimo Agrisuelas, and Edelmira Valero
Heat Evolution and Electrical Work of Batteries as a Function of Discharge Rate: Spontaneous and Reversible Processes and Maximum Work ~ Robert J. Noll and Jason M. Hughes
Editorial: Textbooks
In this month’s Editorial, Norbert Pienta discusses the traditional textbook model for general chemistry in Is Something New Happening with Textbooks?
Research on the Chemistry Teacher Pipeline, Argument-Driven Inquiry, and Online Homework
In this month’s issue, Gregory T. Rushton and colleagues examine potential leaks in the teacher pipeline that may impact the quality and diversity of chemistry teachers in the United States and suggest ways to improve the chemistry teaching workforce. See: Repairing Leaks in the Chemistry Teacher Pipeline: A Longitudinal Analysis of Praxis Chemistry Subject Assessment Examinees and Scores ~ Lisa Shah, Jie Hao, Jeremy Schneider, Rebekah Fallin, Kimberly Linenberger Cortes, Herman E. Ray, and Gregory T. Rushton
Additional chemical education research articles explore:
Developing High School Students’ Self-Efficacy and Perceptions about Inquiry and Laboratory Skills through Argument-Driven Inquiry ~ Guluzar Eymur
General Chemistry Student Attitudes and Success with Use of Online Homework: Traditional-Responsive versus Adaptive-Responsive ~ Michelle Richards-Babb, Reagan Curtis, Betsy Ratcliff, Abhik Roy, and Taylor Mikalik
Using Everyday Objects To Teach
Build Your Model! Chemical Language and Building Molecular Models Using Plastic Drinking Straws ~ Luis F. Moreno, María Victoria Alzate, Jesús A. Meneses, and Mario L. Marín
Measuring Yeast Fermentation Kinetics with a Homemade Water Displacement Volumetric Gasometer ~ Richard B. Weinberg
Measuring the Force between Magnets as an Analogy for Coulomb’s Law ~ Samuel P. Hendrix and Stephen G. Prilliman
Is That a Polarimeter in Your Pocket? A Zero-Cost, Technology-Enabled Demonstration of Optical Rotation ~ Patrick I. T. Thomson
Lights, Camera, Spectroscope! The Basics of Spectroscopy Disclosed Using a Computer Screen ~ José J. Garrido-González, María Trillo-Alcalá, and Antonio J. Sánchez-Arroyo
Multipurpose Use of Explain Everything iPad App for Teaching Chemistry Courses ~ Jayashree S. Ranga
Teaching Organic Chemistry with Games
MOL: Developing a European-Style Board Game To Teach Organic Chemistry ~ Eduardo Triboni and Gabriel Weber
Interactive Computer Game That Engages Students in Reviewing Organic Compound Nomenclature ~ José Nunes da Silva Júnior, Davi Janô Nobre, Rômulo Silva do Nascimento, Giancarlo Schaffer Torres, Jr., Antonio José Melo Leite, Jr., André Jalles Monteiro, Francisco Serra Oliveira Alexandre, Maria Teresa Rodríguez, and Maria Joseja Rojo
Communication and Writing
Encouraging the Art of Communicating Science to Nonexperts with Don’t Be Such a Scientist ~ Sarah K. St. Angelo
Writing a Review Article: A Graduate Level Writing Class ~ Omotola O. Ogunsolu, Jamie C. Wang, and Kenneth Hanson
Essential Elements of Collaboration: Understanding How Chemistry Graduate Students Experience Collaboration through International Research Visits ~ Anne E. Leak, Elizabeth Sciaky, Lubella Lenaburg, Julie A. Bianchini, and Susannah Scott
Examining and Creating Innovative Curriculum
Historical Analysis of the Inorganic Chemistry Curriculum Using ACS Examinations as Artifacts ~ Shalini Srinivasan, Barbara A. Reisner, Sheila R. Smith, Joanne L. Stewart, Adam R. Johnson, Shirley Lin, Keith A. Marek, Chip Nataro, Kristen L. Murphy, and Jeffrey R. Raker
Design and Evaluation of a One-Semester General Chemistry Course for Undergraduate Life Science Majors ~ Carly Schnoebelen, Marcy H. Towns, Jean Chmielewski, and Christine A. Hrycyna
Laboratory Curriculum for a Structure, Reactivity, and Quantitation Sequence in Chemistry ~ Chris P. Schaller, Kate J. Graham, Edward J. McIntee, Alicia A. Peterson, Christen M. Strollo, Henry V. Jakubowski, M. A. Fazal, Brian J. Johnson, T. Nicholas Jones, and Annette M. Raigoza
Computer-Aided Discovery Activities
Using Computer-Based “Experiments” in the Analysis of Chemical Reaction Equilibria ~ Zhao Li and David S. Corti
Pedagogical Approach to the Modeling and Simulation of Oscillating Chemical Systems with Modern Software: The Brusselator Model ~ Jaime H. Lozano-Parada, Helen Burnham, and Fiderman Machuca Martinez
Comparing Classical Water Models Using Molecular Dynamics To Find Bulk Properties ~ Laura J. Kinnaman, Rachel M. Roller, and Carrie S. Miller
Computer-Aided Drug Discovery: Molecular Docking of Diminazene Ligands to DNA Minor Groove ~ Yana Kholod, Erin Hoag, Katlynn Muratore, and Dmytro Kosenkov
Exploring Kinetics
Zero-Order Chemical Kinetics as a Context To Investigate Student Understanding of Catalysts and Half-Life ~ Kinsey Bain, Jon-Marc G. Rodriguez, and Marcy H. Towns
Introduction to Time-Resolved Spectroscopy: Nanosecond Transient Absorption and Time-Resolved Fluorescence of Eosin B ~ Erik P. Farr, Jason C. Quintana, Vanessa Reynoso, Josiah D. Ruberry, Wook R. Shin, and Kevin R. Swartz
Interdisciplinary Laboratory Investigations
X-ray Crystallography Analysis of Complexes Synthesized with Tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine: A Laboratory Experiment for Undergraduate Students Integrating Interdisciplinary Concepts and Techniques ~ Isabel J. Bazley, Ellen A. Erie, Garrett M. Feiereisel, Christopher J. LeWarne, Jack M. Peterson, Katherine L. Sandquist, Kayode D. Oshin, and Matthias Zeller
From the Archives: Applications of 3D Printing for Teaching Chemistry
This issue includes an article on the Development and Application of 3D Printed Mesoreactors in Chemical Engineering Education by Tahseen Tabassum, Marija Iloska, Daniel Scuereb, Noriko Taira, Chongguang Jin, Vladimir Zaitsev, Fara Afshar, and Taejin Kim. 3D printing has been used for a wide variety of teaching applications in recent years in the Journal, including making instrumentation and models, including:
Teaching UV–Vis Spectroscopy with a 3D-Printable Smartphone Spectrophotometer ~ Elise K. Grasse, Morgan H. Torcasio, and Adam W. Smith
User-Friendly 3D Printed Colorimeter Models for Student Exploration of Instrument Design and Performance ~ Lon A. Porter, Benjamin M. Washer, Mazin H. Hakim, and Richard F. Dallinger
Applying Hand-Held 3D Printing Technology to the Teaching of VSEPR Theory ~ Natalie L. Dean, Corrina Ewan, and J. Scott McIndoe
A Simplified Method for the 3D Printing of Molecular Models for Chemical Education ~ Oliver A. H. Jones and Michelle J. S. Spencer
Creating and Using Interactive, 3D Printed Models to Improve Student Comprehension of the Bohr Model of the Atom, Bond Polarity, and Hybridization ~ Karen Smiar and J. D. Mendez
Volumes of New Perspectives on Teaching Chemistry
With 95 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education to examine, you will always find a new perspective on teaching—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.
Do you have something to share? Write it up for the Journal! For some advice on becoming an author, it’s always very helpful to read Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including recently updated: Author Guidelines and Document Templates.