On the Web Online Resources for Teachers and Students from the American Chemical Society Mary Kirchhoff, American Chemical Society, 1155 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036;
[email protected] At the ACS Web site, http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/ content (accessed Nov 2008), clicking on Education provides the viewer with links to a wealth of programs, products, and services for learners and educators from kindergarten through graduate school.
Keywords: Audience: General Public. Domain: Curriculum, Public Understanding/Outreach. Topics: Administrative Issues. Article available at: http://www.jce.divched.org/JCEDLib/ ConfChem/200804/P08
Excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is receiving significant attention at the national level, in part due to the National Academies’ report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (http://www7. nationalacademies.org/ocga/testimony/gathering_storm_energizing_and_employing_america2.asp, accessed Nov 2008). This report catalyzed the passage in 2007 of the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science) Act, which is intended to maintain America’s edge as the most innovative nation in the world. Providing a world-class STEM education to students at all levels requires high-quality resources, and the American Chemical Society offers a wealth of programs, products, and services for learners and educators from kindergarten through graduate school. These resources can be organized under the five goals of the developing strategic plan of the ACS Education Division:
1. To provide unique and high-quality educational resources that set the standard for chemistry education in both content and instructional approach.
2. To connect learners and educators in ways that lead to personal and professional growth, exchange of knowledge, and interaction with the broader scientific community.
3. To improve learning by supporting professional development activities for educators based on the highest quality standards and practices.
4. To promote the quality of education in chemistry and chemistry-related fields by supporting the development, dissemination, and adoption of guidelines, policies, and standards.
5. To provide diverse experiences that inspire student learning.
Several long-standing ACS programs—including the ACS approval process, the Student Affiliates program, and Project SEED—are well-known to the chemistry community. The ACS is constantly looking for new opportunities to enhance chemistry education, as evidenced by a variety of new programs, such as the High School Chemistry Clubs program; International Experiences for Undergraduate Research; Preparing for Life After Graduate School workshops; and summer research for high school teachers. This paper highlights ACS education resources, which will be fully integrated into the ChemEd DLib, thereby providing one-stop-shopping for chemistry education resources. Acknowledgment The development of the ChemEd Digital Library is supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE-0632247).
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 86 No. 1 January 2009 • Journal of Chemical Education
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