Increasing Authenticity of the Student Experience
The November 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: liquid crystals; nanochemistry; understanding fundamentals; promoting nursing students’ chemistry success; graduate education; using history to teach chemistry; exploring food chemistry; applications of chemistry; using games to teach; cost-effective instrumentation; organic chemistry laboratories; physical chemistry; computer-based learning.
Cover: Liquid Crystal Phases
Binary phase diagrams are an important component of many materials science and physical chemistry courses. In Liquid Crystal Demonstration of Binary Phase Behavior for the Classroom, Marissa E. Tousley presents a classroom demonstration that allows students to observe phase behavior as a function of composition and temperature. This demonstration uses surfactants that self-assemble into ordered structures (lyotropic liquid crystalline phases) with unique optical properties in the presence of water. The cover shows images taken at different time points during a temperature-induced phase transition. Different liquid crystal phases exhibit different optical properties, making it possible to observe phase behavior using an optical microscope.
Additional nanochemistry articles in this issue include:
Innovative Education and Active Teaching with the Leidenfrost Nanochemistry ~ Mady Elbahri, Ahmed Soliman, Kirsi Yliniemi, Ramzy Abdelaziz, Shahin Homaeigohar, and Eman S. Zarie
Demonstrating the Photochemical Transformation of Silver Nanoparticles ~ Pablo Eduardo Cardoso-Avila and Juan Luis Pichardo Molina
Understanding Fundamentals
Importance of Understanding Fundamental Chemical Mechanisms ~ Vicente Talanquer
What Prospective Chemistry Teachers Know about Chemistry: An Analysis of Praxis Chemistry Subject Assessment Category Performance ~ Lisa Shah, Jeremy Schneider, Rebekah Fallin, Kimberly Linenberger Cortes, Herman E. Ray, and Gregory T. Rushton
Promoting Nursing Students’ Chemistry Success
Electronic Laboratory Notebooks Allow for Modifications in a General, Organic, and Biochemistry Chemistry Laboratory To Increase Authenticity of the Student Experience ~ Amber J. Dood, Lisa M. Johnson, and Justin M. Shorb
Promoting Nursing Students’ Chemistry Success in a Collegiate Active Learning Environment: “If I Have Hope, I Will Try Harder” ~ Andri L. Smith, Jean R. Paddock, Joel M. Vaughan, and David W. Parkin
Graduate Education
Stress and Mental Health in Graduate School: How Student Empowerment Creates Lasting Change ~ Maral P. S. Mousavi, Zahra Sohrabpour, Evan L. Anderson, Amanda Stemig-Vindedahl, David Golden, Gary Christenson, Katherine Lust, and Philippe Bühlmann
Establishment and Implementation of a Peer-Supported Professional-Development Initiative by Doctoral Students, for Doctoral Students ~ Tessy S. Ritchie, Maria T. Perez Cardenas, and Shweta Ganapati
Expanding University Student Outreach: Professional Development Workshops for Teachers Led by Graduate Students ~ Robert M. B. Dyer, B. Jill Venton, and Jennifer L. Maeng
Using History To Teach Chemistry
Vinland Map Authentication: A Case Study for the Review of Spectroscopic Techniques and Application of X-ray Methods ~ Elizabeth C. Landis
Writing with Sunlight: Recreating a Historic Experiment ~ Simeen Sattar and Robert J. Olsen
Exploring Food Chemistry
Food Chemistry: A Model for Upper Level Chemistry Electives ~ Suzanne Carpenter and Richard Wallace
Quantifying Beer Bitterness: An Investigation of the Impact of Sample Preparation ~ Rebecca A. Hunter and Eric J. Dompkowski
Antioxidant Activity of Beer: An EPR Experiment for an Undergraduate Physical-Chemistry Laboratory ~ Max Schmallegger and Georg Gescheidt
Determination of Xylitol in Sugar-Free Gum by GC–MS with Direct Aqueous Injection: A Laboratory Experiment for Chemistry Students ~ Suranga M. Rajapaksha, Dulani Samarasekara, John Charles Brown, Leslie Howard, Katherine Gerken, Todd Archer, Patty Lathan, Todd Mlsna, and Deb Mlsna
Applications of Chemistry
Introducing Students to the Medical Applications of Cross-Linked Hydrogels Using Nontoxic Materials and Experiments Suitable for Many Settings ~ Grigoriy Sereda and Benjamin Hawkins
Investigating NOx Concentrations on an Urban University Campus Using Passive Air Samplers and UV–Vis Spectroscopy ~ Cole M. Crosby, Richard A. Maldonado, Ahyun Hong, Ryan L. Caylor, Kristine L. Kuhn, and Matthew E. Wise
Bringing Real-World Energy-Storage Research into a Second-Year Physical-Chemistry Lab Using a MnO2-Based Supercapacitor ~ Felicia Licht, Gianna Aleman Milán, and Heather A. Andreas
Using Games To Teach
Applying a Quiz-Show Style Game To Facilitate Effective Chemistry Lexical Communication ~ Sam Boon Kiat Koh and Fun Man Fung
Nomenclature Bets: An Innovative Computer-Based Game To Aid Students in the Study of Nomenclature of Organic Compounds ~ José Nunes da Silva Júnior, Mary Anne Sousa Lima, Fátima Nunes Miranda, Antonio José Melo Leite Junior, Francisco Serra Oliveira Alexandre, jheyson Carlos de Oliveira Assis, and Davi Janô Nobre
Cost-Effective Instrumentation
Laser Polarimeter Laboratory for Measuring Scattering in Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry ~ Ariana Joseph, Katherine Budden, Richard Cisek, and Danielle Tokarz
Teaching Students How To Troubleshoot, Repair, and Maintain Magnetic Stirring Hot Plates Using Low-Cost Parts or Repurposed Materials ~ Lucas F. de Paula and Reinaldo Ruggiero
Designing and Using 3D-Printed Components That Allow Students To Fabricate Low-Cost, Adaptable, Disposable, and Reliable Ag/AgCl Reference Electrodes ~ Benjamin Schmidt, David King, and James Kariuki
Organic Chemistry Laboratories
Overcoming the Hurdle from Undergraduate Lab to Research Lab: A Guided-Inquiry Structural Characterization of a Complex Mixture in the Upper-Division Undergraduate Organic Lab ~ Devin R. Latimer, Athar Ata, Christopher P. Forfar, Mustafa Kadhim, April McElrea, and Ramon Sales
Capstone Laboratory Experiment Investigating Key Features of Palladium-Catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling Reactions ~ Reyne Pullen, Angus Olding, Jason A. Smith, and Alex C. Bissember
Physical Chemistry
Approximate Equation To Calculate Partial Pressures in a Mixture of Real Gases ~ Bernard Hayez
A Simplified Pöschl–Teller Potential: An Instructive Exercise for Introductory Quantum Mechanics ~ Erin Brown and Lisandro Hernández de la Peña
The Gibbs Phase Rule: What Happens When Some Phases Lack Some Components? ~ Deepika Janakiraman
Computer-Based Learning
Access to Computational Chemistry for Community Colleges via WebMO ~ Maria A. Zdanovskaia, Cara E. Schwarz, Asif D. Habib, Nicholas J. Hill, and Brian J. Esselman
Development and Use of “ICP-MS TuneSim”: A Software App that Allows Students to Simulate Tuning an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer ~ Amy J. Managh, Peter Reid, and Matthew A. Knox
Program for Simulating Gel Electrophoresis of Enzyme-Digested Proteins ~ Howard Mayes and Chung F. Wong
Exploring the Archives: Liquid Crystals and Optical Rotation
The November cover features a Liquid Crystal Demonstration of Binary Phase Behavior for the Classroom. A sampling of some articles in past issue of JCE on the topics of liquid crystals and optical rotation include:
Colors in Liquid Crystals (JCE Classroom Activity: #73) ~ George Lisensky and Elizabeth Boatman
Liquid Crystals Activity ~ Mark Warren and Don L. Lewis
Visualizing Molecular Chirality in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory Using Cholesteric Liquid Crystals ~ Maia Popova, Stacey Lowery Bretz, and C. Scott Hartley
Is That a Polarimeter in Your Pocket? A Zero-Cost, Technology-Enabled Demonstration of Optical Rotation ~ Patrick I. T. Thomson
A Shoebox Polarimeter: An Inexpensive Analytical Tool for Teachers and Students ~ Akash Mehta and Thomas J. Greenbowe
Demonstrating Optical Activity Using an iPad ~ Pauline M. Schwartz, Dante M. Lepore, Brandy N. Morneau, and Carl Barratt
Kaleidoscoptical Activity ~ Robert Becker
The Journal of Chemical Education Is Always Authentic
The 95 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education give plenty of chemistry to experience, 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, Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary is a great place to start. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including: Author Guidelines and Document Templates.