In the Classroom edited by
Paul G. Jasien California State University San Marcos, CA 92096
Mission Statement for the New Column, Terminology and Teaching Paul G. Jasien Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, San Marcos, California 92096
[email protected] The terminology used to teach chemistry has a very specific meaning in the context of the discipline, although some words also have another meaning in everyday life. The situation is well described by the following exchange from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (1). “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean;neither more nor less.”“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
Multiple meanings for scientific words can lead to confusion in the mind of the student and may be an obstacle to learning a particular concept. It is important for instructors to be aware of problems that may arise due to the specific words they use, and to assist students in the process of contextualizing word meaning. This feature provides a forum for educators to discuss issues related to learning difficulties that occur due to
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chemical terms having various meanings. Typical articles may include: 1. Classroom techniques that have been developed to help students contextualize scientific versus colloquial meanings 2. Perspectives on the terms used to describe specific concepts 3. Short research-based reports on specific science terms with multiple meanings.
Submissions will be limited to 2000 words. This feature's Web page is available at http://www.jce.divched.org/AboutJCE/ Features/featureDetail.php?recordID=XX (accessed Oct 2009). See the companion article (DOI 10.1021/ed8000182) for the first column in this feature (2). Literature Cited 1. Carroll, L. Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There; Macmillan: London, 1872. 2. Jasien, P. G. J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87, DOI: 10.1021/ed8000182.
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r 2009 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Vol. 87 No. 1 January 2010 10.1021/ed800020t Published on Web 12/18/2009
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Journal of Chemical Education
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