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JOURNAL on Cmaarcru.EDUCATION
JUNE,1925
CHEMICAL SPELLING STIMULATES INTEREST IN CHEMISTRY C. A. JACOBSON, WESTVIRGINIAUNIVERSITY, MORDANTOWN, W. VA. Chemical spelling is now in its fourth year at the West Virginia University, and can therefore be considered past the experimental stage. By chemical spelling is meant the pronouncing of the names of chemical compounds by one person and the spelling of their formulas by another. The practice is especially suited to classes or groups of students who have finished or nearly finished their courses in chemistry. At some convenient time the instructor will call the students together and place them in a row and begin the spelling by pronouncing a word like sulfuric acid or benzene, whose formulas, HzS04 or CsHe would be given by the first in line, and so on until every contestant had been given a word. After the eligible contestants have been selected from preliminary spelling contests, they are assembled in an auditorium or suitable hall and given numbers which are pinned on, and visible from any part of the room. Some disinterested chemist is engaged to pronounce the words, while a t least three persons keep the score. Suppose 30 contestants have been chosen from the preliminary matches, and that these are arranged in a row on the plafform. When a contestant fails to spell correctly the required formula the first time, another word is given to the next in line, and so on till the end of the row is reached. If six contestants fail to spell their words, the score keepers will give each of them the score of 30, after which they take their seats. The remaining 24 students will each have another trial, and if 4 students go down this time, these will get a score of 24. Let us assume that 3 are spelled down the third round, their score would be 20, and so on until one remains who will get the score of 1. The 30 contestants are again assembled on the plafform for a second
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match, and the spelling continued as before. When three or more such matches have been completed, the scores for each contestant are added up, and the one having the lowest is declared the winner. Experience has taught us that some form of reward or prize to the winner is necessary to arouse and maintain interest in chemical spelling. In last year's contest, held at the West Virginia University, the winner was awarded a set of books on chemistry. The next four highest in rank, including the winner of the first prize, received "Roll of Honor" certificates bearing the names of these five contestants together with the seal of the University, one copy being retained and framed for the Department of Chemistry. A certificate, from each of the three annual contests held here, is hung in the chemistry building. The students, whose names appear on these certificates, are justly proud of their achievement for between three and four hundred chemistry students entered the spelling matches each year. These certificates, prominently displayed, serve as no small incentive for the members of the present freshman class to excel, not only in chemical spelling, but in their other work in chemistry. The chemical formum of a substance may be considered the nucleus around which we assemble o,r information about it. Our knowledge will of necessity be limited when it comes to a large number of compounds, and since this is so, it is better to remember the formula of a substance than any other fact or condition about it, requiring an equal effort. The student who knows the formula of a compound certainly bas the advantage over the one who does not. Many students have expressed themselves as having been benefitted by the chemical spelling contests, and the dart they put forth to make a respectable showing. Without these contests they never would have acquired so large a chemical vocabulary. Intercollegiate chemical spelling contests have been tried in at least one section of the country, namely the southwestern, and when this fof of chemical education coupled with chemical amusement gains in pop -. ity we shall hear of intercollegiate spelling contests from other localit, d exThose who have never tried chemical spelling should do so. perience the old time competitive spirit of the spelling bee, the -..ill enliven the subject of chemistry, which to most freshmen studen:,: so uninteresting.
