Promoting Problem-Solving and Discovery Learning
The March 2017 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: protein chemistry; making connections in in chemical education research; chemical bonding; importance of non-technical skills; courses built on reactivity; periodic table; heterocyclic compounds; teaching resources; from the archives: Using Wikipedia and Wikis to teach.
Cover: Protein Chemistry
Students often have difficulties understanding that proteins routinely exist in both folded and unfolded states, and that protein unfolding is not equivalent to irreversible denaturation or aggregation. In Naked-Eye Detection of Reversible Protein Folding and Unfolding in Aqueous Solution, Tess M. Carlson, Kevin W. Lam, Carol W. Lam, Jimmy Z. He, James H. Maynard, and Silvia Cavagnero describe a novel, simple, and visually engaging illustration of the reversible interconversion between folded and unfolded protein states and of the dramatic effect of pH, temperature, and stabilizing/destabilizing cosolutes on protein conformation.
Protein chemistry is also explored in these articles:
Proteins and Drug Design
Drug Design Workshop: A Web-Based Educational Tool To Introduce Computer-Aided Drug Design to the General Public ~ Antoine Daina, Marie-Claude Blatter, Vivienne Baillie Gerritsen, Patricia M. Palagi, Diana Marek, Ioannis Xenarios, Torsten Schwede, Olivier Michielin, and Vincent Zoete
Demonstration of AutoDock as an Educational Tool for Drug Discovery ~ Travis R. Helgren and Timothy J. Hagen
Using an in Silico Approach To Teach 3D Pharmacodynamics of the Drug–Target Interaction Process Focusing on Selective COX2 Inhibition by Celecoxib ~ Maurício T. Tavares, Marina C. Primi, Nuno A. T. F. Silva, Camila F. Carvalho, Micael R. Cunha, and Roberto Parise-Filho
Protein Experiments
Development and Implementation of a Protein–Protein Binding Experiment To Teach Intermolecular Interactions in High School or Undergraduate Classrooms ~ Sadie M. Johnson, Cassidy Javner, and Benjamin J. Hackel
Utilizing Mechanistic Cross-Linking Technology To Study Protein–Protein Interactions: An Experiment Designed for an Undergraduate Biochemistry Lab ~ Kara Finzel, Joris Beld, Michael D. Burkart, and Louise K. Charkoudian
Unboiling an Egg: An Introduction to Circular Dichroism and Protein Refolding ~ John P. Hoben, Jianing Wang, and Anne-Frances Miller
Capillary Zone Electrophoresis for the Analysis of Peptides: Fostering Students’ Problem-Solving and Discovery Learning in an Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment ~ Jessica C. Albright and Douglas J. Beussman
Op-Ed
Editor-in-Chief Norbert J. Pienta asks How Do We Measure Success in Introductory College Chemistry?
Jonathan S. Rhoad suggests using a pair of writing assignments that challenge students to gain a deeper understanding of underlying concepts and to read their textbook critically in the Commentary Written Assignments in Organic Chemistry: Critical Reading and Creative Writing.
Making Connections in Chemical Education Research
Development of the Connected Chemistry as Formative Assessment Pedagogy for High School Chemistry Teaching ~ Mihwa Park, Xiufeng Liu, Noemi Waight
Unraveling the Complexities: An Investigation of the Factors That Induce Load in Chemistry Students Constructing Lewis Structures ~ Jessica M. Tiettmeyer, Amelia F. Coleman, Ryan S. Balok, Tyler W. Gampp, Patrick L. Duffy, Kristina M. Mazzarone, and Nathaniel P. Grove
Chemical Bonding
In Emphasizing the Significance of Electrostatic Interactions in Chemical Bonding, Bhawani Venkataraman describes a pedagogical approach to help students understand chemical bonding by emphasizing the importance of electrostatic interactions between atoms. A previously published article by Bhawani Venkataraman with Elinor Gottschalk, Visualizing Dispersion Interactions,uses an animation and accompanying activity to help students visualize how dispersion interactions arise.
Courses Built on Reactivity
In Reactivity III: An Advanced Course in Integrated Organic, Inorganic, and Biochemistry , Chris P. Schaller, Kate J. Graham, and Henry V. Jakubowski describe a new course that presents chemical reactions from the domains of organic, inorganic, and biochemistry that are not readily categorized by electrophile–nucleophile interactions. This is built on two previously published articles:
Reactivity I: A Foundation-Level Course for Both Majors and Nonmajors in Integrated Organic, Inorganic, and Biochemistry ~ Chris P. Schaller, Kate J. Graham, Brian J. Johnson, T. Nicholas Jones, and Edward J. McIntee
Reactivity II: A Second Foundation-Level Course in Integrated Organic, Inorganic, and Biochemistry ~ Chris P. Schaller, Kate J. Graham, Edward J. McIntee, T. Nicholas Jones, and Brian J. Johnson
Importance of Non-technical Skills
Anne E. Kondo and Justin D. Fair reveal in Insight into the Chemistry Skills Gap: The Duality between Expected and Desired Skills that companies value effective teamwork and communication skills. These non-technical skills can be achieved when a strong foundation of interprofessional skills has been taught and applied in scientific settings, such as through undergraduate research.
Periodic Table
Clarifying Atomic Weights: A 2016 Four-Figure Table of Standard and Conventional Atomic Weights ~ Tyler B. Coplen, Fabienne Meyers, and Norman E. Holden
Technetium: The First Radioelement on the Periodic Table ~ Erik V. Johnstone, Mary Anne Yates, Frederic Poineau, Alfred P. Sattelberger, and Kenneth R. Czerwinski
Heterocyclic Compounds
Synthesis and Characterization of 2-Phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine: A Privileged Structure for Medicinal Chemistry by Brandi S. Santaniello, Matthew J. Price, and James K. Murray, Jr. describes a straightforward hetrocyclic synthesis. The authors point out that heterocyclic compounds, in particular N-heterocycles, are pervasive in compounds of medicinal and biological interest, as revealed in:
A Graphical Journey of Innovative Organic Architectures That Have Improved Our Lives ~Nicholas A. McGrath, Matthew Brichacek, and Jon T. Njardarson
An In-Pharm-ative Educational Poster Anthology Highlighting the Therapeutic Agents That Chronicle Our Medicinal History ~ Elizabeth A. Ilardi, Edon Vitaku, and Jon T. Njardarson
Teaching Resources
Understanding Chemical Equilibrium: The Role of Gas Phases and Mixing Contributions in the Minimum of Free Energy Plots ~ J. Pablo Tomba
Interactive Simulations To Support Quantum Mechanics Instruction for Chemistry Students ~ Antje Kohnle, Cory Benfield, Georg Hähner, and Mark Paetkau
Calculating the Confidence and Prediction Limits of a Rate Constant at a Given Temperature from an Arrhenius Equation Using Excel ~ Ronald A. Hites
From the Archives: Using Wikipedia and Wikis To Teach
Michael D. Mandler dicusses Glaring Chemical Errors Persist for Years on Wikipedia and encourages timely fact-checking and editing by the chemical community in order to make Wikipedia a more useful resource. Other articles that have discussed using Wikipedia and Wikis to teach include:
Using Wikipedia To Develop Students’ Critical Analysis Skills in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum ~ Eric Martineau and Louise Boisvert
Improving Information Literacy Skills through Learning To Use and Edit Wikipedia: A Chemistry Perspective ~ Martin A. Walker and Ye Li
Using Wikis To Develop Collaborative Communities in an Environmental Chemistry Course ~Laura E. Pence and Harry E. Pence
Using Chem-Wiki To Increase Student Collaboration through Online Lab Reporting ~Edward W. Elliott, III and Ana Fraiman
Improving Science Education and Understanding through Editing Wikipedia ~ Cheryl L. Moy, Jonas R. Locke, Brian P. Coppola, and Anne J. McNeil
A Wiki-Based Group Project in an Inorganic Chemistry Foundation Course ~Kathleen E. Kristian
A Collaborative, Wiki-Based Organic Chemistry Project Incorporating Free Chemistry Software on the Web ~Michael J. Evans and Jeffrey S. Moore
Promoting Everything that JCE Has To Offer
With over 94 years of content from the Journal of Chemical Education available, you will always discover something useful—including 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.
Do you have something to share? Write it up for the Journal! For some advice on becoming an author, read Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including recently updated: Author Guidelines, Document Templates, and Reference Guidelines.