Kick Off 2016 with Volume 93
The January 2016 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: examining the flipped classroom; central ideas in chemistry & teaching; chemistry, art, & color; expanding student understanding; improving student communication skills; analytical chemistry & instrumental analysis; experimenting with natural products; undergraduate research experiences; educational resources; from the archive: using nonfiction to teach.
Cover: Build Your Own Photometer
Guided-inquiry laboratory experiments help students develop scientific inquiry skills, including background research, procedure development, hypothesis testing, and learning through trial and error. In Build Your Own Photometer: A Guided-Inquiry Experiment To Introduce Analytical Instrumentation, Jessie J. Wang, José R. Rodríguez Núñez, E. Jane Maxwell, and W. Russ Algar describe such an experiment for an undergraduate analytical chemistry laboratory. Students construct a submersible photometer from LEDs and household items, interface the photometer to a computer, and test the photometer in a colorimetric acid–base titration. The cover art is a representation of how prelaboratory assignments help students map their own path through the concepts, components, and completion of the experiment, with gains in their learning.
Examining the Flipped Classroom
Editor-in-Chief Norbert J. Pienta makes some observations about the advantages and potential practical challenges of the “flipped classroom” approach in a general chemistry course in his editorial, A “Flipped Classroom” Reality Check. Additional articles researching the effectiveness of the flipped classroom in this issue include:
Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Student Performance and Retention: A Parallel Controlled Study in General Chemistry ~ Michael D. Ryan and Scott A. Reid
Examining the Effectiveness of a Semi-Self-Paced Flipped Learning Format in a College General Chemistry Sequence ~ Lisa Hibbard, Shannon Sung, and Breché Wells
Central Ideas in Chemistry & Teaching
Central Ideas in Chemistry: An Alternative Perspective ~ Vicente Talanquer
Five Things Chemists (and Other Science Faculty) Should Know about the Education Research Literature ~ S. Seethaler
Representation and Analysis of Chemistry Core Ideas in Science Education Standards between China and the United States ~ Yanlan Wan and Hualin Bi
Chemistry, Art, & Color
Chemistry and Art in a Bag: An Easy-To-Implement Outreach Activity Making and Painting with a Copper-Based Pigment ~ Anne C. Gaquere-Parker, N. Allie Doles, and Cass D. Parker
Peak Race: An In-Class Game Introducing Chromatography Concepts and Terms in Art Conservation ~ Jocelyn Alcantara-Garcia and Mike Szelewski
Demonstration of the Spectrophotometric Complementary Color Wheel Using LEDs and Indicator Dyes ~W. Russ Algar, Caitlyn A. G. De Jong, E. Jane Maxwell, and Chad G. Atkins
Chemistry and Explosives: An Approach to the Topic through an Artistic and Historical Contribution Made by a Spanish Global Explosives Supplier ~ Gabriel Pinto and Amalio Garrido-Escudero
Origin of the Anomalous Color of Egyptian and Han Blue Historical Pigments: Going beyond the Complex Approximation in Ligand Field Theory ~ Pablo García-Fernández, Miguel Moreno, and José Antonio Aramburu
Expanding Student Understanding
Effect of Computer Simulations at the Particulate and Macroscopic Levels on Students’ Understanding of the Particulate Nature of Matter ~ Hui Tang and Michael R. Abraham
Chemical Information Literacy: pKa Values—Where Do Students Go Wrong? ~ Alison B. Flynn and Delphine G. Amellal
Encouraging Higher-Order Thinking in General Chemistry by Scaffolding Student Learning Using Marzano’s Taxonomy ~ Santiago Toledo and Justin M. Dubas
Identifying Liquid–Gas System Misconceptions and Addressing Them Using a Laboratory Exercise on Pressure–Temperature Diagrams of a Mixed Gas Involving Liquid–Vapor Equilibrium ~ Masahiro Yoshikawa and Nobuyoshi Koga
Effectiveness of Student-Generated Video as a Teaching Tool for an Instrumental Technique in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory ~ Jeremy T. Jordan, Melinda C. Box, Kristen E. Eguren, Thomas A. Parker, Victoria M. Saraldi-Gallardo, Michael I. Wolfe, and Maria T. Gallardo-Williams
Improving Student Communication Skills
Chemistry Writing Instruction and Training: Implementing a Comprehensive Approach to Improving Student Communication Skills ~ Alexander F. Stewart, Andrea L. Williams, Jennifer E. Lofgreen, Landon J. G. Edgar, Laura B. Hoch, and Andrew P. Dicks
Providing Students with Interdisciplinary Support To Improve Their Organic Chemistry Posters ~ Bozena Widanski, Jo Ann Thompson, Katie Foran-Mulcahy, and Amy Abafo
Analytical Chemistry & Instrumental Analysis
Oxygen Bleach under the Microscope: Microchemical Investigation and Gas-Volumetric Analysis of a Powdered Household Product ~ Fernando S. Lopes, Alexandre L. B. Baccaro, Mauro S. F. Santos, and I. G. R. Gutz
Teaching UV–Vis Spectroscopy with a 3D-Printable Smartphone Spectrophotometer ~ Elise K. Grasse, Morgan H. Torcasio, and Adam W. Smith
Kinetics, Reaction Orders, Rate Laws, and Their Relation to Mechanisms: A Hands-On Introduction for High School Students Using Portable Spectrophotometry ~ Jack M. Carraher, Sarah M. Curry, and Jean-Philippe Tessonnier
Integrating Chemistry Laboratory Instrumentation into the Industrial Internet: Building, Programming, and Experimenting with an Automatic Titrator ~ Nicole Famularo, Yana Kholod, and Dmytro Kosenkov
Spectrophotometric Determination of 6-Propyl-2-thiouracil in Pharmaceutical Formulations Based on Prussian Blue Complex Formation: An Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Laboratory Experiment ~ Robert Zakrzewski, Monika Skowron, Witold Ciesielski, and Żaneta Rembisz
Conducting Reflective, Hands-On Research with Advanced Characterization Instruments: A High-Level Undergraduate Practical Exploring Solid-State Polymorphism ~ S. J. Coles and L. K. Mapp
Experimenting with Natural Products
Analysis of Whiskey by Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: An Upper Division Analytical Chemistry Experiment Guided by Green Chemistry ~ Janel E. Owens, Laura B. Zimmerman, Michael A. Gardner, and Luis E. Lowe
Making a Natural Product Chemistry Course Meaningful with a Mini Project Laboratory ~ Aliefman Hakim, Liliasari, Asep Kadarohman, and Yana Maolana Syah
What Is the “Areca” in “Areca Nuts”? Extraction and Neuroactive Bioassay of Arecoline ~ Katherine Locock, Tim Bakas, Farid Sanai, Robin Allan, and Tina Hinton
An Anesthetic Drug Demonstration and an Introductory Antioxidant Activity Experiment with “Eugene, the Sleepy Fish” ~ Homar Barcena and Peishan Chen
Extraction of Eugenol from Cloves Using an Unmodified Household Espresso Machine: An Alternative to Traditional Steam-Distillation ~ Jeremy Just, Grace L. Bunton, Bianca J. Deans, Natasha L. Murray, Alex C. Bissember, and Jason A. Smith
Undergraduate Research Experiences
What Knowledge of Responsible Conduct of Research Do Undergraduates Bring to Their Undergraduate Research Experiences? ~ Patricia Ann Mabrouk
Transitioning from Expository Laboratory Experiments to Course-Based Undergraduate Research in General Chemistry ~ Ted M. Clark, Rebecca Ricciardo, and Tyler Weaver
Synthesis of 1,1-Diphenylethylene (DPE): The Marriage of a Grignard Reaction and a Column Chromatography Experiment ~ Lisa T. Alty, Marcia B. France, Isaac G. Alty, Christine A. Saber, and Donna M. Smith
Educational Resources
An Automated Grading Spreadsheet for Reports or Presentations ~ Sally S. Hunnicutt
Transition Metal d-Orbital Splitting Diagrams: An Updated Educational Resource for Square Planar Transition Metal Complexes ~ Jonas Börgel, Michael G. Campbell, and Tobias Ritter
Visualization of Buffer Capacity with 3-D “Topo” Surfaces: Buffer Ridges, Equivalence Point Canyons and Dilution Ramps ~ Garon C. Smith and Md Mainul Hossain
From the Archive: Using Nonfiction to Teach
In the article Using The Poisoner’s Handbook in Conjunction with Teaching a First-Term General/Organic/Biochemistry Course, Daniel R. Zuidema and Lindsey B. Herndon discuss the use of the book The Poisoner’s Handbook as a hook for teaching students about chemistry and forensic science. In addition to the many great nonfiction suggestions available at ChemEdX Picks, some examples of popular nonfiction used to get students interested in chemistry in past issues include:
Spicing Things Up by Adding Color and Relieving Pain: The Use of Napoleon’s Buttons in Organic Chemistry ~ Kevin M. Bucholtz
Napoleon's Buttons: Teaching the Role of Chemistry in History ~ Cindy Samet and Pamela J. Higgins
Using Popular Nonfiction in Organic Chemistry: Teaching More Than Content ~ Katie E. Amaral and Ivan A. Shibley, Jr.
2,016 Reasons to Use the Journal of Chemical Education
With 93 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education to explore, you will always find something useful—including all of 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.
If you are considering writing an article for JCE, there are numerous author resources available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including recently updated Author Guidelines, Document Templates, and Reference Guidelines.