CECl78: Chemical Education Conference The chemical education conference, CECl78, held a t Beaver College on August 21-25,1978, was modeled after and inspired by the Canadian chemical education conferences a t Waterlooin 1973,1975 and 1977. But CECi78 was unique in a number of significant ways. As Arthur Breyer, chairman of the chemistry and physics departments of Beaver College and ca-director of the conference, stated in his remarks during the opening general session, the major goalof CEC/78 was to "present aprogram of current ideas, methods and materials which teachers of the various sciences can find immediately useful in their Classroom". He stressed that the conference was not programmed solely for high school chemistry teachers but also far junior college, college, and university teachers and that the program included topics relevant to the other sciences a t all levels. In f a d , two of the five general sessions featured Jearl Walker, professor of physics at Cleveland State University. One of these was a multiple-~mage,multi-media show using ten projectors which presented sound, electricity, and optics in the everyday world. His other session in which he performed many imaginative demonstrations was entitled "The Flying Circus of Physics". Bath sessions supported Dr. Walker's eliim that "science can be informative and entertaining a t the same time". The conference, co-directed by Harold Ferguson, Harriton High School, had the support and assistance of, among others, the American Chemical Satiety Department of Educational Activities and 18 committee organizers with specific assignments. The conference sessions were held a t Glenside, Pennsylvania on the Beaver College campus and on the adjoining campus of Cheltenham High School. This very fortunate proximity of campuses had a t least two positive effects. First, i t enabled the scheduling of over 200 papers, five general sessions, and three programs for children includine a ehemistrv session with the world-famous Dr. Boom (Hubert N. Alvea). Second..it served to deemnhasize the secondarv-tertiarv interfaceas a barrier and to underscore the fact that the conference wasoreanired h v m d for ~~
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portance and the need for communication among all teachersof chemistry which the design of the conference would in part satisfy. She spoke also of her overwhelming concern that more meaningful science programs be developed for the general student a t every level. She defined thegeneral student "as thestudent whodoes not have and probably will never have professional goals that require technical competence in science". I t is impractical and prohably impossible to report on what was said in each presentation. There was not just one fundamental issue which was being approached. The contributed papers sessions were devoted t o a variety of interests and concerns as the following selected representative titles will reveal: "Chemistry and the Quest far New Energy Sources"; "Lamplighters of Chemistry"; "Physical Science Modules for Bioscience Students"; "The High School-College Instructional Interface"; "Street Drugs: Facts and Myths"; "Trends in the Content of the CollegePreparatory High School Chemistry Course"; "The Advancement Parameter of Dedonder: A Unifying Variable for Solving Problems Involving Stochiometry, Limiting Reagents, Equilihrium and Kinetics". The wide selection of topia and the large number of papers presented concurrently in the series of ten 90-minute sessions were undoubtedly important factors in earning the overwhelming approval of the conference expressed by the 350 registrants intheir evaluation statements. The sessions were well attended, the discussions vigorous, the registrants stimulated and happy to be with their peers. The mix of chemistry teachers from all levels plus teachers and programs from the other science content areas added a new dimension to the number and kind of contacts each teacher could make. The conference was intended to bring science teachers together to share their achievements, ideas and concerns and to learn from each other. It is this reporter's opinion that this intention was acb.ieved and that both the organizers and registrants can feel proud of the events that took place during CECl78.
James V . DeRose Science Department Marple Newtown Schools Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073
Volume 56. Number 1. January 1979 1 41
