Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers Commencement As the new editor of the Secondary School Section, let me take a moment to acknowledge and thank Emory Howell for a wonderful and productive tour of duty. I doubt if I can do justice to all his contributions to this section and to the Journal. One particular contribution is Diana S. Mason the care he took in designating the Journal articles that should interest most high school chemistry instructors. Look for the 䊕 symbols in the table of contents. These triangles denote articles specifically selected for the secondary school readership. Under Emory’s watch there were also numerous additions of online and technology applications for the classroom, including the very useful safety CLIPs. Thank you, Emory, for your tireless efforts attending many conferences, workshops, and other events to promote this terrific resource. Your wise guidance will be missed. Here’s to a job well done! I enter this new phase of my life with excitement and apprehension about being able to live up to the standards set by my predecessors. The professional experience I bring to the table includes a broad range of academic experience. I taught for 10 years at Jesuit Preparatory School in Dallas, and then continued my career as an instructor at Austin Community College while I obtained my doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin. Then I taught simultaneously in the Department of Chemistry and the College of Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio. In the College of Education I taught courses for preservice teachers and graduate courses in Science Education for in-service teachers. Currently, I am an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas in the Department of Chemistry, and I’m attempting to revise the existing Master’s degree in chemical education and start a doctoral program in chemical education.
Given this background and my interest in improving chemical education, I’m concerned about a number of issues hindering that improvement. I’m most familiar with the trials and tribulations in Texas—textbook censorship that’s politically motivated, to block schedule or not, the critical need for chemistry teachers (1100–1500 by 2003) due to recent policy changes by the state (1) (Anyone need a job?) and the timely question, What are the college chemistry courses necessary to successfully prepare future chemistry teachers? I was reminded of this last item by the excellent interview with J. Dudley Herron by Cardellini on p 53 (a must read!). His certification program was broad-based, which left him “certified to teach every science and qualified to teach none!” Unfortunately, that seems to be where most preservice programs are headed today—how things go in circles! The ACS lists chemical education as an option to obtain a certified undergraduate degree in chemistry (2), but there are very few undergraduate chemical education programs. All of us who are interested in teaching chemistry should take an active part in the preparation of the next generation of chemistry teachers by defining the content for this program. Let’s make sure that the next generation of teachers is well-prepared to teach the right stuff the way it ought to be taught. Let’s commence! Literature Cited 1. Texas Education Agency and State Board of Educator Certification (TEA & SBEC), 2001. http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/ hottopic/tchstdy050401.htm (accessed Nov 2001). 2. ACS Committee on Professional Training, 1999. http:// chemistry.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=acsdisplay.html&DOC =education\cpt\guidelines.html (accessed Nov 2001).
Visit CLIC, an Online Resource for High School Teachers at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/HS/
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Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 79 No. 1 January 2002 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
Chemical Education Today
by Diana S. Mason and Erica K. Jacobsen
Spreading the Word Butterflies in the stomach. Sweaty palms. What would I say? How would they react? This summer’s ChemEd 2001 in Toronto marked my first experience at meeting and greeting conference-goers at the Journal booth. Speaking to new people has Erica K. Jacobsen traditionally made me a little apprehensive. And now I needed to tell them about the Journal. Where would the words come from? It seems Modeling easier to sit at my computer and drug speak by email. But at the discovery booth, once I had a copy of the Journal in my hands you couldn’t stop me talking about how great it is, especially to a high school educator. As the torch is passed from Emory Howell to Diana Mason and myself, spreading the word about how useful the Journal is to high school educators continues as a major goal. It can happen at a JCE booth. It can happen when a teacher shares an issue with a colleague. It can happen in universities where pre-service chemistry teachers are in training. It can occur in many places, but it must continue to happen. I was entering my second year of teaching when my Journal subscription introduced me to Classroom Activities. When I opened the November 1997 issue, “How Big is the Balloon” caught my eye. It required only simple materials: balloons, containers, baking soda, and vinegar. It was ready to photocopy and give to students. It offered a novel, visual presentation of the idea of stoichiometry and limiting
Secondary School Feature Articles 䊕 JCE Classroom Activity: #41. Tick Tock, a Vitamin C Clock, by Stephen W. Wright, p 40A. 䊕 Second-Year and AP Chemistry: Modeling the Drug Discovery Process: The Isolation and Biological Testing of Eugenol from Clove Oil, by William H. Miles and Patricia M. Smiley, p 90.
reactants. Perfect! My students tried it that same week, with excellent results. In this issue, Activity #41, “Tick Tock, a Vitamin C Clock” (p 40A) provides yet another fantastic experience for students. Supermarket chemicals produce a clock reaction that students use to investigate the effect of concentration on a reaction rate. In addition to Classroom Activities, the Journal offers a wealth of other articles useful in the high school classroom. To make finding relevant items easier, the JCE website CLIC presents categorized items from JCE issues since 1996, and we are working on ways to make finding a useful article even easier. If you have ideas for other enhancements or want to volunteer your time and effort to improving CLIC, please tell us—send us an email message at
[email protected]. I am excited at the opportunity to work with Diana to further the goals of the Secondary School Chemistry Section. I look forward to meeting even more Journal subscribers and welcoming new subscribers to the fold. Maybe I’ll see you at the JCE booth. I’ll be the one with the Journal in my hands. No more sweaty palms.
JCE Forums, a discussion for High School Teachers at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/webx
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 79 No. 1 January 2002 • Journal of Chemical Education
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