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

Years ago, I put on a pair of snowshoes during a winter cold snap and found that the plastic binder straps broke fairly easily. At first I thought the plastic straps had simply become more brittle with time, but I found that the straps became less brittle when brought inside to warmer temperatures.

Learning chemistry is difficult.

Having worked previously at our partner community college teaching Fundamentals of Chemistry (a one-semester introductory chemistry course with lab for non-science majors) and with science majors that transfer over upper division university courses, I have noticed that due to circumstances beyond their control they typically have very limited exposure t

Think back to when most college students across the country were on campus? I know, it feels like a lifetime ago. But as recently as the Fall 2019 semester, I recall walking through the school cafeteria and observing several groups of students that were clearly studying together.

Chad Husting presented in a ChemEd X Talk on February 9, 2021, and spoke about how he has transitioned to standards based grading during a pandemic!

So I do not need to do as much review, I give my Junior-level Inorganic Chemistry class Review Quizzes. Literally, I give them the quiz a week ahead of time and, with very minor changes, give them the same quiz. I have a tutor session online the night before the quiz and, not surprisingly, they have questions over the quiz. Thus, it becom

Co-Authored by Iain A. Smellie*, Iain L. J. Patterson* *University of St Andrews, School of Chemistry, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, United Kingdom

Have you seen the rainbow candy experiment? It's a very simple experiment that involves pouring water into a plate that has M&M's candies or Skittles arranged in a pattern. Very curious shapes of sharply divided regions form spontaneously. How does this happen?! 

Some of the challenges associated with virtual instruction include connecting with students and checking for understanding in real time.

One of my favorite chemistry demonstrations is the “Copper to Silver to Gold” experiment¹ (VIDEO 1), in which a penny is first plated with zinc and then heated to form brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. The heat causes zinc to diffuse into the copper in the penny. The zinc plate imparts a beautiful silver color to the penny.