Case studies pertaining to the health benefits of foods can be particularly effective in engaging students and in teaching core concepts in science (Heidemann and Urquart 2005). This case study focuses on the chemistry of curcumin, the health-promoting ingredient in turmeric. The case was developed to review core concepts in organic chemistry and…

This study was designed to examine students' use of multiple modal representations within their written arguments as a consequence of completing a series of investigations of an organic chemistry laboratory course. One hundred and eleven students from a major Midwestern university were involved in using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach…

This paper describes an Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project for which Learning Design is encompassed in the broadest sense. ALIUS (Active Learning In University Science) takes the design of learning back to the learning experiences created for students. ALIUS is not about designing a particular activity, or subject, or course,…

Differences in problem-solving ability among organic chemistry graduate students and faculty were studied within the domain of problems that involved the determination of the structure of a molecule from the molecular formula of the compound and a combination of IR and [to the first power]H NMR spectra. The participants' performance on these tasks…

This paper examines what has happened over a period of 25 years since a separate Division of Chemical Education was created within the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University. It argues that the faith in the chemical education graduate program that was demonstrated when the division was created was well-placed, and that chemical education has…

There is concern in some counties about the number of able young people entering degree level study and careers in physical science, including chemistry. Too few of the most talented young people are selecting "STEM" subjects to ensure the future supply of scientists, engineers and related professionals. The present paper sets out general…

In this article, the authors report the results of a preliminary study of preservice teachers' ability to transfer their knowledge between their chemistry and Earth science courses. They examined whether they could answer the transfer questions correctly, how they explained their answers, and what information from their coursework they used to…

This month's column features two true stories about the use of chemicals in the middle school science classroom. The lesson of these stories is simple. Certainly, it is prudent to have age-appropriate experiences in science, given the developmental constraints of students in middle school. On the other hand, when the curriculum necessitates…

This paper discusses a K-12/university collaboration in which students participated in a four-day scenario-based summer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) camp aimed at making difficult scientific concepts salient. This scenario, Jumpstart STEM-CSI: Chocolate Science Investigation (JSCSI), used open- and guided-inquiry…

The effects of student-directed activity-based learning (SDABL) were examined in two high school chemistry classes. Students in the SDABL class were given pretest results, a list of standards to be mastered, and a chart of learning activities categorized by difficulty level. They selected activities to meet their needs and preferences.…

The triterpenes are a diverse class of widely distributed natural products derived from squalene. Various cyclization and subsequent rearrangement reactions produce many complex structural types. These compounds frequently display a wide divergence of biological properties. For example the pentacyclic triterpene, betulin, is isolated from white…

Octahedral transition-metal complexes are involved in a number of reactions and octahedral coordination geometry, frequently observed for metallic centers, includes important topographical stereochemistry. Depending on the number and nature of different ligands, octahedral coordination units with at least two different monodentate ligands give…

An advanced analytical chemistry laboratory experiment is described that involves environmental analysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Students analyze lint from clothes dryers for traces of flame retardant chemicals, polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), compounds receiving much attention recently. In a typical experiment, ng/g…

Rapid-equilibrium rate equations for enzyme-catalyzed reactions are especially useful because if experimental data can be fit by these simpler rate equations, the Michaelis constants can be interpreted as equilibrium constants. However, for some reactions it is necessary to use the more complicated steady-state rate equations. Thermodynamics is…

This article describes the differences of good ozone and bad ozone. Good ozone, which is found in the stratosphere, protects people and other living things from the bad things UV can do, such skin cancer, cataracts, and other problems. However, lower in the atmosphere, at the top of the troposphere (around 12 miles up), ozone acts like a…