Chemical Education Today
News & Announcements News from Journal House
• searches more data
• has more ways to specify the search criteria
• allows for sorting the results
Keywords (www.jce.divched.org/Contributors/Authors/Journal/ keywords.html) and also have a short description. New ways that you can search for articles are by their description, feature column, or keyword category (domain, audience, pedagogy). For example, it is now easy to find articles for first-year undergraduate (audience), biochemistry (domain), inquiry-based/discovery learning (pedagogy), published since the year 2000—12 records found! The resulting list can be sorted by title, author, or date published after the search is performed. After a search, you can browse the results as a list or record-byrecord—and easily switch between the two displays. We hope you find the new JCE Search useful in finding what you are looking for from this Journal—and maybe some unexpected treasures as well. Try it out! As always with a project of this size, we are sure that errors still exist. Please be sure to tell us if you find an error (email:
[email protected]) so that we can continue to improve searching of the premiere chemistry education journal.
• contains fewer errors
• allows staff to correct errors while the system is still connected to JCE Online
Molecules 360 Update
New JCE Search Engine for 2009 JCE Online is happy to announce an updated search engine for finding Journal articles that is named JCE Search 2009; it replaces the existing online JCE Index and may be found at http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Search/ This new search engine is available to everyone. JCE Search 2009 offers major benefits for finding the articles you are looking for because it
The table below compares selected features. Previously, JCE Index
Now, JCE Search 2009
Articles in JCE database
31,000
> 40,000
Fields in Advanced Search
Title, Author, Keywords, Year, Month
All fields in JCE Index plus Audience, Pedagogy, Domain, Topic, Feature, Description
Sorting
Must choose sort order before submitting search request
Can sort after results displayed
Errors
Data for older issues taken from scanned printed indices and Tables of Contents
Page-by-page audit of JCE articles reflected in data
Feedback
System had to be shut down to correct errors
Errors reported can be corrected by staff almost immediately
Not supported
Features can be added and system can be modified by staff
Good
Much Better!
Future Modification
In addition to improvements in the search engine, there have been improvements in the data being searched. The data have been audited with the result that many corrections have been made and additional articles included. All articles dating back to 1950 have been tagged with the current listing of JCE 164
The Chemical Education Digital Library (ChemEdDL) Molecules 360 collection is developing into a fully interactive resource. More than 100 molecules can be viewed with Jmol and have a fully interactive menu including display options for dipole moments, symmetry elements, molecular orbitals, and more. Compare molecules side by side or get snapshots to use in a lecture. For interactive student use, you can add the Jmol applet to any Web site or ChemEd DL Moodle course (moodle. chemeddl.org) with your choice of buttons. One could utilize this resource to make an interactive problem set for students to explore polar properties of different molecules, develop a tutorial to explore molecular orbital bonding concepts in 3D, or help students visualize molecular vibrations and then relate them to an infrared spectrum. Many options exist for a creative instructor! Do you have molecules that you would like to contribute to our collection? Send us an email at
[email protected].
The screen above is an example of a Jmol applet embedded in a Moodle (moodle.chemeddl.org) course. Display options can be chosen to highlight the topic of interest.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 2 February 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
Chemical Education Today
Awards Announced Awardees, ACS DivCHED Regional Award for Excellence in High School Teaching The winners of the Midwest and Southeast Regional Awards for Excellence in High School Teaching have been announced and presented to the winners. Rosemary V. Camp, Liberty High School, Liberty, MO. Midwest Region Dianne Earle, Boiling Springs High School, Boiling Springs, SC. Southeast Region
A list of the seven other winners for 2008 as well as the 2007 winners appears on page 1611 of the December 2008 issue of this Journal. Information about how to contribute to the DivCHED Endowment fund that supports this award program appears on the home page of the DivCHED Web site http://www.divched.org/ (accessed Dec 2008) as well as on pp 1032–1033 of the August 2008 isue of this Journal. NCSE Lifetime Achievement Awards The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to three pioneers in biodiversity science and conservation: George Raab, president emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society and past director of the Brookfield Zoo Peter Raven, head of the Missouri Botanical Garden Edward O. Wilson, Joseph Pellegrino University professor emeritus in entomology at Harvard University
The awards will be presented during the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World. Rita Colwell, NCSE board member and former director of the National Science Foundation, will moderate a conversation, Looking Forward, Looking Backward, with the awardees. The awards will be preceded by special posthumous recognition of the late Congressman James H. Scheuer (NY), author of the National Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act introduced in Congress in 1988. AIChE Alternative Fuel-Powered Cars Race The American Institute of Chemical Engineeres (AIChE) has announced that Cornell University took top honors at the national Chem-E-Car competition at the Institute’s Centennial Annual Meeting. The Cornell team’s car, “The Bender”, was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and defeated 29 other shoebox-size cars. “The competition has grown over the last 10 years because of the heightened awareness of the need for alternative fuels,” said John Sofranko, AIChE Executive Director. “With each year’s competition, there is more creativity from our student members that could potentially impact our global energy supply and demand. Meeting the energy challenge is a core issue of AIChE and the chemical engineering profession.”
In this year’s event, students were challenged to transport 250 milliliters of water 60 feet. Each team received two chances to run their cars, with their final score being their best attempt at meeting the established distance. Cornell University came the closest—in fact, becoming the first team in 10 years of competition to stop their car exactly on the finish line—and took the top prize of $2,000. Finishing in second place and taking home $1,000 was Louisiana State University, using citric acid and sodium carbonate. Taking third place and $500 was Texas A&M, which used chemicals making hydrogen gas to propel their car. Interesting and innovative chemical reactions are used to power the cars each year. The 2008 competition was no exception, with chemical reactions as basic as vinegar and baking soda and complex as homemade fuel cells.
Award Deadlines 2009 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry Nominations are invited for the 2009 James Flack Norris Award, which consists of a certificate and an honorarium of $3,000, is given annually by the Northeastern Section (NESACS). The presentation ceremony, dinner and formal address by the awardee will take place in November 2009. The deadline for receipt of nominations is April 15, 2009. The Award was established in 1950 by NESACS to honor the memory of James Flack Norris (1871–1940), a professor of chemistry at Simmons College and at M.I.T., the chair of NESACS in 1904, and ACS President in 1925–26. Nominees should have served with special distinction as teachers of chemistry at any level: secondary school, college, and/or graduate school. With the presentation of the first Award in 1951, awardees have included many eminent teachers at all levels whose efforts have had a wide-ranging effect on chemical education. The recipient will be selected from an international list of nominees who have served with special distinction as teachers of chemistry with significant achievements. A nomination in the form of a letter should focus on the candidate’s contributions to and effectiveness in teaching chemistry. The nominee’s curriculum vitae should be included and, where appropriate, a list of honors, awards, and publications related to chemical education. Seconding letters may also be included; these should show the impact of the nominee’s teaching for inspiring colleagues and students toward an active life in the chemical sciences and attest to the influence of the nominee’s other activities in chemical education, such as textbooks, journal articles, or other professional activity at the local, national, and international level. Announcements Share Your News with the JCE Community! Send contributions to the JCE Announcements column to Elizabeth A. Moore, associate editor, by email at betmoore@ chem.wisc.edu or at the address on the masthead. Contributions should be concise, to the point, and appropriate for the Journal’s audience. They may be edited for clarity, timeliness, or length.
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Chemical Education Today
News & Announcements The nomination materials should consist of the primary nomination letter, supporting letters, and the candidate’s curriculum vitae. Reprints or other publications should not be included. The material should not exceed thirty (30) pages, and should be submitted electronically in Adobe PDF format through April 15, 2009 to Marilou Cashman, NESACS Admin-
istrative Secretary;
[email protected]. For more information about the Award, see http://www.nesacs.org/awards_norris.html (accessed Dec 2008). Questions about the Award or the nomination process should be directed to the Chair of the Norris Award Committee, Morton Hoffman, Boston University;
[email protected].
Proposal Deadlines National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources These NSF deadlines have been established or are anticipated.
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Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Preliminary Proposals (recommended) April 23, 2009 • Alliances for Broadening Participation in STEM (ABP) Deadlines vary among sub-programs; see Web site • Communicating Research to Public Audiences Full Proposals: anytime, but at least 6 months prior to starting date. PI must have an active NSF grant. • Cyber-Enabled Discovery & Innovation (CDI) Full Proposals, Types I and II April 20–May 20, 2009 • Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities (EPS) Full Proposals accepted any time • Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Deadlines vary among sub-programs; see Web site Announcements • Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) hare Your News with the JCE Community! Preliminary Proposals March 13, 2009 ontributions to the JCEFull Announcements to Elizabeth Proposals by column invitation only ore, associate editor, by email at
[email protected]. • Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) at the address on the masthead. Contributions should be Full Proposals January 22, 2009 e, to the point, and appropriate for the Journal’s audience. Math & ScienceorPartnership (MSP) may be edited for• clarity, timeliness, length. Deadlines vary among sub-programs; see Web site • Research & Evaluation on Education in Science & Engineering (REESE) Letter of Intent October 9, 2009 • Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Deadlines vary among sub-programs; see Web site • Science & Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships Full Proposals (by invitation only) April 30, 2009 • Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) Letter of Intent August 18, 2009 Full Proposals September 29, 2009 • Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Full Proposals, Planning Projects accepted any time Full Proposals, Implementation October 20, 2009
Official deadline dates for proposals will be specified in the new program solicitation for each program, to be published at least three months before the relevant deadline date. Consult the NSF Education and Human Resources (EHR) Web site (http:// www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=EHR) and that of its Division
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of Undergraduate Education (http://www.nsf.gov/div/index. jsp?div=DUE) for the most up-to-date listings and guidelines; phone: 703/292-8670; email:
[email protected]. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.*
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Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences (new): February 13, 2009 Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: February 5, 2009 Faculty Start-Up Awards Program: Program Suspended Henry Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: May 7, 2009 (new deadline) New Faculty Awards Program: Program Suspended Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: August 13, 2009 Senior Scientist Mentor Program: Program Suspended Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Initial Inquiry: June 4, 2009 Proposal (by invitation): November 12, 2009
* New submission guidelines may apply. For details and information on online application and nomination forms, check the Dreyfus Foundation Web site at http://www.dreyfus.org or contact The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10022-3301; phone: 212/753-1760; email:
[email protected]. Research Corporation for Science Advancement** ** Major changes in the Research Corp. awards program have taken place: “The Foundation has decided to sharpen the focus of its programs on early-career academic scientists in the U.S.” Some programs have been terminated, changes have been made in ongoing programs, and an entirely new program has been initiated. Information about the award programs below is available at http://www.rescorp.org/.
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Single Investigator Cottrell College Science Awards: for faculty at undergraduate institutions along with their students. Pre-proposals required; deadline for completed applications is November 15 or May 15. Multi-Investigator Cottrell College Science Awards: program will begin in 2009. Cottrell Scholar Awards: awards for beginning faculty members who are committed to excel at both research and teaching. Deadline is 5 p.m. MST on the first regular business day in September.
Further information may be obtained from Research Corporation, 4703 East Camp Lowell Drive, Suite 201, Tucson, AZ 85712; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119; email:
[email protected]; WWW: http://www.rescorp.org/.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 2 February 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
Chemical Education Today
Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities Streaming Video of Dreyfus Symposium: Climate, Energy, and the Changing Environment Eight acclaimed chemists spoke at the symposium “Climate, Energy, and the Changing Environment: A Dreyfus Symposium on Environmental Chemistry Research” on October 24, 2008. The event was sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation and held at the New York Academy of Sciences. The selection of topics highlighted many of the themes of the Dreyfus Foundation’s Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry including the accelerated melting of the global ice sheet due to climate change, the nature of atmospheric particulates, adaptation of microbes to environmental changes over the earth’s history, the status of green chemistry research, and advances in solar power utilization to solve the global energy crisis. The speakers, Paul Anastas (Yale University), James Anderson (Harvard University), Ralph Cicerone (National Academy of Sciences), Eric Jacobsen (Harvard University), Nathan Lewis (California Institute of Technology), Dianne Newman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Daniel Nocera (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Kimberly Prather (University of California, San Diego), and most of the over 100 distinguished chemists and chemical engineers in attendance are mentors in the Dreyfus program. Streaming video of the symposium is available on the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation’s Web site, at http://www. dreyfus.org/news/symposium_news.shtml (accessed Dec 2008). Changes at Research Corporation Changes are taking place at the 96-year old Research Corporation. Its name has been modified to Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) to describe more precisely what it does. It has an updated logo and has launched a new Web site at http://www.rescorp.org (accessed Dec 2008). In making changes to maintain vibrancy, RCSA has reaffirmed its commitment to support early-career scientists and to fund innovation through collaboration and boundary-crossing research. RCSA will not cut programs or reduce funding during the next year, but will instead make cuts and economies in its administration. At present there are two award programs:
• Cottrell College Science Awards support significant research that contributes to the advancement of science and to the professional and scholarly development of faculty at undergraduate institutions.
• Cottrell Scholar Awards are for beginning faculty members who are committed to excel at both research and teaching in astronomy, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, or physics.
Other initiatives are underway, which are described in more detail at http://www.rescorp.org/initiatives (accessed Dec 2008).
Materials for Teachers FAS Unveils Virtual Worlds Almanac Wiki The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has unveiled a Virtual Worlds Almanac Wiki, an ambitious infrastructure for cataloguing virtual environments, at http://vworld.fas.org/wiki/ Main_Page (accessed Dec 2008). This wiki currently classifies 74 virtual worlds and includes extensive links to tools, news, and other useful online reference materials. Virtual world developers, academics and the general public who use the listed worlds are encouraged to review and contribute to the wiki. Most of the data in the Virtual Worlds Almanac is entered via check boxes, drop-down lists, and specific text boxes, and supported variables include those related to use, technical features, communication, and demographics. All the information added by visitors will contribute to the serious research that will benefit all who have an interest in the Internet and its educational potential. For Blind and Low Vision Learners: A Tactile Graphics Kit Lillian Rankel, a high school chemistry teacher, and Marilyn Winograd, a teacher of the blind, have spent the past few years working together to modify chemistry lab equipment and concepts for a blind student. Commercially available materials used in the lab had to be modified for use by a student without vision. Some of these modifications included: tactile marks and Braille labels on a spring scale used for measuring force, notches on the plunger of a syringe for measuring liquids, and Braille labels on syringes with different capacities. Many aspects of teaching physical sciences, math, and life sciences use visual aids, models, and diagrams. Inexpensive craft materials to make tactile representations of visual aids were used. For example, multi-textured magnetic-backed foam or felt, cut into appropriate shapes and displayed on a magnetic board, became models of molecules, atoms, electrons, ice structures, DNA, inclined planes, and simple machines. Formulas were shown using magnetic Braille-labeled letters presented on a dry erase board. For example, in the density equals mass divided by volume (d=m/V) formula, magnetic letters can be moved to solve for volume. These letters and tactile representations were easily manipulated or rearranged to form new formulas and balance equations. In addition to using these materials to learn science concepts, the blind student used these manipulatives to tutor some of his sighted peers in chemistry and physics. For more information on strategies and the materials used to adapt chemistry for multi-sensory learners, please visit http:// www.MDWEducationalServices.com and http://ilab.psu.edu (both sites accessed Dec 2008). All students, those with special needs and those without, can have a meaningful, side-by-side learning experience using tactile representations. Supporting JCE Online Material http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2009/Feb/abs164.html Full text (HTML and PDF) with links to cited URLs and JCE articles.
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