Latest articles, blogs, and events from the chemical education community

“Soonish” is a book about the near future, or “near-ish”, anyway. Unlike predictions of what will happen many decades from now, which are inevitably far off the mark, “Soonish” is an attempt to describe technological developments that, while they may not necessarily come to fruition before we all die of a pandemic, at least there have already been

With the uncertainty of what the upcoming school year will bring, I have been planning as if my classes were completely online. Even during remote instruction, I want activities to be interactive for my students to allow them to engage with the material.

By the end of the 19th century, laboratory experiments were an integral component of chemistry education programs. Practical laboratory work supports classroom learning by providing students with a more concrete sense of the abstract ideas learned in the classroom setting.

“I just wanted to reach out and update you on my life,” the email began. As a high school teacher, I love receiving emails starting with a line like this. It is exciting to learn where my former students are in their life’s journey. Last month I opened an email starting with this line. My mind raced with the possibilities.

2YC Editor's note: It is my pleasure to welcome Jerry Godbout as a Two Year College (2YC) Lead Contributor. After living in the cloudy shadows of the Great Lakes region for 21 years (but the sun is always shining, right?

Prologue: The application of Hess's Law frequently presents students with conceptual problems, and I believe that performing a series of experiments that confirms Hess's Law, is probably the best way to impart a robust understanding of this principle. A plaque on the wall of the Oxford University Biochemistry Department reads:

First, thanks for reading! Second, share liberally and share often. I hope you and your students enjoy and find useful this classroom activity dealing, in part, with the canning of fruits.

During distance learning last spring, one pill that was hard to swallow was the diminished role of lab investigations. As engaging as I tried to make the content, I could not help but notice the giant void in providing opportunities to participate in the process of science.

Deanna Cullen, Scott Milam, Doug Ragan, and I recently published an article, Rapid Formation of Copper Patinas: A Simple Chemical Demonstration of Why the Statue of Liberty Is Green, in the Journal of Chemical Education¹ that describes how to create a blue-green

The 2020 AP Exams were definitely challenging between switching to remote instruction, removing units of instruction, implementing an online exam, and reformatting the exam, among other issues. All these changes led to anxious students and teachers. One of the anxieties that lingered past the exam was how it would be read and scored.

The ¨Alchemy of Us¨ is a wonderful read that should be on every chemistry teacher´s bookshelf. Ainissa Ramirez has crafted a great story book that introduces the non scientist reader to the idea of material science. Does material science influence people or do people influence material science? The answer, I believe is yes.