An oral presentation assignment in a Physical Chemistry course was reimagined as a TED talk. The presentation is part of a larger course project which includes consideration of what traits mark good writing and good speaking that students can emulate. Evidence and observations show that this new format yields improved presentations, enhanced…

Research on laboratory learning points to the need to better understand what and how students learn in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. The Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) was administered to general and organic chemistry students from 15 colleges and universities across the United States in order to measure the…

A highly interactive research-led learning session for chemistry undergraduates is described, which aims to lead students to an awareness of the applications of crystallography technique through a mentored hands-on crystal structure solution and refinement session. The research-based environment is inherent throughout the 4.5 h program and is…

The boiling point of a monofunctional organic compound is expressed as the sum of two parts: a contribution to the boiling point due to the R group and a contribution due to the functional group. The boiling point in absolute temperature of the corresponding RH hydrocarbon is chosen for the contribution to the boiling point of the R group and is a…

Any student is expected to know that correct prediction is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition any theory must meet to be acceptable. However, an eventual weakening of reflective and critical attitudes when dealing with "whats" and "whys" in science learning can easily lead to an identification of the predictive…

This symposium examined the status of teaching strategies and ancillary activities that are based upon a perception of the problems that interfere with or prevent the learning of chemistry. (Author/BB)

Discussed is the use of instructional aids in chemistry teaching as it relates to mechanisms of learning. (BB)

Discusses the author's own experience with learning, teaching, and research study in chemistry. Indicates that one should take his working experience as a learning process to alleviate the reactive character of his earlier strongly held views. (CC)

The well-crafted templates are useful to learn the new concepts of chemistry. The templates focus on pressure-volume work, the Boltzmann distribution, the Gibbs free energy function, intermolecular potentials, the second virial coefficient and quantum mechanical tunneling.

Discusses research attempting to identify difficulties experienced by undergraduate chemistry students in performing specific logical operations at the formal level as described or implied by Inhelder and Piaget. (BT)

Limitations of the traditional "text-oriented" chemistry curricula are discussed and suggestions are made for programs to involve students in projects and research experiences. (DT)

Deals with Piaget's research and theory over the past five decades. The purpose of the paper is to identify important aspects of Piaget's work and to refer the reader to sources readily available in books and periodicals. These are outlined in the annotated bibliography at the end of the paper. (Author/MA)

Explains a writing assignment in which students select chemical reactions relevant to their lives and use them to write a critical analysis paper. (YDS)

Discusses ways in which the educational system discriminates against some students by the methods in uses to evaluate ability. (MLH)

Indicates that the current philosophy of laboratory experimentation and instrumentation is creating students that are not well versed in basic principles of chemistry. (GS)