Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers by Diana S. Mason
Rethinking the Classroom Laboratory Congratulations are in order for the 2004 U.S. Chemistry Olympiad team that is on its way to Kiel, Germany for the 36th international competition (1). More than 50 teams will compete in this year’s event, July 18– 27. The team members include Eric Brown, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN; John I. Kiappes, Jr. Memorial High School, Houston, TX; Emily Tsui, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, MD; and Fan Zhang, Bergen County Academics, Hackensack, NJ. Also, we acknowledge the contributions of the team’s teachers and coaches who assisted and mentored them at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Go Team U.S.A.! About a year ago, I walked into a lab of a friend of mine, Kirk Hunter, and asked why he had a bowling ball on his lab bench. He asked if I thought the ball would float. I said, “Well, in water, of course not. Bowling balls are large, dense, heavy, and they sink.” Then Kirk showed me. It floated! He then said, “Do the math.” I knew right away that we had to share this activity (p 1312A–B). Try it and read about using discrepant events as a teaching tool (p 1309). Do you have an idea, activity, vision to share with our readers? I bet you do! To find out more about submitting JCE Classroom Activities see http://www.jce.divched.org/HS/ ClassAct.html. Would my encounter have been as exciting if Kirk and I had just talked about it? No, he had to show me. It was after I actually performed the activity that I had a meaningful learning experience. Direct laboratory experience is one of the best ways to bring home lessons and have meaningful learning experiences. If you have any doubt, read Long’s summary of several articles published by The Science Teacher (p 1254). For an opposing view, check out Hawkes’s commentary (p 1257). Laboratory experiences may not always improve conceptual understanding, but when teachers foster experiential learning they provide students with marketable skills and the means to connect theory with reality. Concept mapping techniques developed by Novak (p 1303) are one way to encourage students to make these connections for themselves. When cognitive restructuring occurs meaningful learning will follow. The Journal not only publishes interesting articles and tested activities but it also shares tidbits of information that might be lost to obscurity if not recorded. Jensen (p 1258) enlightens us on the origin of the use of alcohol proof and how the term has considerably different meanings across the globe. Whelan et al. (p 1299) provide us with additional engaging examples using household items, such as having students evaluate the lead content in hair dyes or identify the differences between fresh and canned orange juices. Peer-assisted learning has been used for several years at the post-secondary level, but using your students as role models www.JCE.DivCHED.org
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Secondary School Featured Articles 䊕 Conceiving of Concept Maps To Foster Meaningful Learning: An Interview with Joseph D. Novak, by Liberato Cardellini, p 1303 䊕 Discrepant Event: The Great Bowling Ball Float-Off, by Diana Mason, William F. Griffith, Sharon E. Hogue, Kathleen Holley, Kirk Hunter, p 1309. 䊕
JCE Classroom Activity: #64. Bowling for Density!, by Kathleen Holley, Diana Mason, Kirk Hunter, p 1312A.
for other students may be exactly what is needed to motivate underachievers and encourage your peer-leaders to see potentials in themselves that they did not know existed (p 1313). Also, in this issue of the Journal there are several ideas on becoming a “cost-effective” teacher that Harris has found (see pp 1337, 1339, 1341, and 1344 for some very interesting and practical ideas). Academic Year 2004–2005 Calendar The 2004–2005 academic year is going to be a big one for science in Texas. Please tell me about upcoming events in your neck of the woods. Mark your calendars: • ACS Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM), Ft. Worth, TX, September 29–October 2; http:// www.swrm.org (accessed Jul 2004). • Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), Corpus Christi, TX, November 4–6; http:// www.statweb.org/CASTCC/index.html (accessed Jul 2004). • National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Dallas, TX, March 31–April 3; http://www.nsta.org (accessed Jul 2004). • National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Dallas, TX, April 4–7; http:// www2.educ.sfu.ca/narstsite/conference/default.html (accessed Jul 2004). • Associated Chemistry Teachers of Texas (ACT 2 ) Biennial, Denton, TX, July 5–9; http:// www.statweb.org/ACT2 (accessed Jul 2004).
Consider attending the Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Connecticut College, June 26–July 1, 2005 (http://www.grc.uri.edu/ programs/2005/chemedu.htm, accessed Jul 2004) and ChemEd 05 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, July 31–August 4, 2005 (http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/chemed2005/, accessed Jul 2004). Literature Cited 1. Mehta, A. U.S. Olympiad Team Chosen. Chem. Eng. News 2004, 82 (26), 12. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/8226/ 8226notw7.html (accessed Jul 2004).
Vol. 81 No. 9 September 2004
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Journal of Chemical Education
1241
