Describes a group of short courses, primarily for the high school science teacher, dealing with the chemistry of drugs, food, and water pollution; and a group of short courses, primarily for the full time college student, dealing with scientific instrumental methods. (MLH)

Using Bruno Latour's framework of a "collective of humans and nonhumans", this paper presents an analysis of chemistry instruction in a high school curriculum and professional development setting to present the chemistry education community with a new way to think about reality and knowledge construction and, at the same time, to…

The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was launched over fifty years ago, on October 4, 1957, marking the beginning of the space age. The launch of Sputnik inspired coal miners' sons in Coalwood, West Virginia, to form a rocket research program. The story of these coal miners' sons was told by Homer Hickham, Jr., in the book Rocket Boys: A…

A substantial number of upper-level science students and practicing physical science teachers demonstrate confusion about thermal equilibrium, heat transfer, heat capacity, and specific heat capacity. The traditional method of instruction, which involves learning the related definitions and equations, using equations to solve heat transfer…

Inspired by the Salters Approach (UK) and ChemCom (USA), units for a new curriculum for chemistry teaching are being developed in Germany based on theories of scientific literacy, motivation, and situated learning. The curriculum follows a context-based approach. Rather than using the structure of the discipline, it generates basic chemical…

The challenge in chemistry courses for nonscience majors (such as nursing majors) is not that the students cannot learn chemistry but that they "think" they cannot learn chemistry. With this in mind, the authors' goal was to create a learning environment in which students would feel motivated to learn and would gain confidence in their…

Language in chemistry is highly specialized, and for students, transitions in language complexity from high school to university can be extremely challenging. With an increasingly diverse cohort of students enrolled in UK chemistry degree programs, better understanding the linguistic challenges students face is becoming a greater pedagogical…

Demonstration shows are a widely used form of Informal Science Education. While there is evidence that the shows are highly enjoyable, little work has been done to investigate the cognitive impacts of these shows. This article describes the development and production of "The Boiling Point," a show that uses the structure of a play to…

Connecting the behavior of invisible (to the naked eye) particles governed by the principles of quantum mechanics to the world we can see and touch requires a host of inferences, almost none of which can be extrapolated from experience. Molecular-level sensemaking thus relies upon intellectual resources that must be developed in large part by…

With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards, high school chemistry teachers are now pondering the implications of their recommendations for their teaching. They may agree that traditional instruction, as the Framework points out, "emphasizes discrete facts with a focus on breadth over depth, and does not provide students with…

Among the many possible goals that instructors have for students in general chemistry, the idea that they will better understand the conceptual underpinnings of the science is certainly important. Nonetheless, identifying with clarity what exemplifies student success at achieving this goal is hindered by the challenge of clearly articulating what…

Chemistry teaching has traditionally been weakly connected to everyday life, technology, society, and history and philosophy of science. This article highlights knowledge areas and perspectives needed by the humanistic (and critical-reflexive) chemistry teacher. Different humanistic approaches in chemistry teaching, from simple contextualization…

This commentary disagrees with a recent submission (Cheung, D. "J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86," 514-518) questioning the value of the Le Chtelier principle (LCP). Cheung points out that the LCP fails to predict the proper change in a small set of chemical equilibria. This commentary argues that the LCP has great qualitative utility in correctly…

Discussed are strategies of problem solving in chemistry teaching. This paper consists of three sections: (1) an assessment of the ways in which problem-solving skills are currently taught; (2) various techniques for problem solving; and (3) recommendations for improving problem solving. (HM)

Proposes that higher education insist more on the education of its chemists and less on strictly instrument training. Lists several instances where education may have been more useful than the strict training military officers received. Discusses the role of chemists in society. (MVL)