ERIC Number: EJ1050762
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jan
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Creative Report Writing in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory Inspires Nonmajors
Henary, Maged; Owens, Eric A.; Tawney, Joseph G.
Journal of Chemical Education, v92 n1 p90-95 Jan 2015
Laboratory-based courses require students to compose reports based on the performed experiments to assess their overall understanding of the presented material; unfortunately, the sterile and formulated nature of the laboratory report disinterests most students. As a result, the outcome is a lower-quality product that does not reveal full understanding of the material. We have found that by allowing students to be more creative while preparing the introduction of their research reports, a greater enthusiasm for the organic chemistry course is stimulated because students are able to relate to the seemingly irrelevant reactants and mechanisms; this is often reflected in their laboratory reports, which are highly creative while maintaining crucial scientific integrity in the remainder of the report discussing experimental protocol, mechanisms, and all corresponding data.
Descriptors: Creative Writing, Science Instruction, College Science, Undergraduate Study, Organic Chemistry, Science Laboratories, Nonmajors, Reports, Student Motivation, Creativity, Student Evaluation, Grades (Scholastic), Feedback (Response), College Faculty
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Georgia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A