Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers by Diana S. Mason
The Digitized World Is upon Us Clark (p 335) states that, as a result of excessively heavy textbooks causing “backpack back”, there is in Tennessee a legislative proposal to give every student two textbooks— one for home and one for the classroom. There is another move afoot to question whether it is of value to have all in every book. Should textbooks only cover the basics? I’m to the point that I tell the students that textbooks are a great resource, but just stick to the information presented in class. Trying to put the all into the “backpack required” textbook is verging on being cost prohibitive. Clark states that in his opinion textual material will continue to grow, but probably not on the printed page. I concur. Our students’ ability to access information on the Internet is changing, their desire to interact more with the traditional didactic information is maturing, and textbook publishers are responding by shrink-wrapping CDs with new textbooks. On pages 337–342, Charlesworth presents a review of a series that responds to students’ need for distributed education. Coordinating editor, Smart, of The Molecular World for The Open University (United Kingdom) has developed what appears to be an excellent CD-ROM-based “textbook” designed for today’s students. These media allow us to operate in today’s world without the expense of the paper text and give us the ability to continually update as necessary. The Journal is aware this trend and we are on the forefront! Our new Web address is http://www.JCE.DivCHED.org. The JCE DLib (Digital Library), the DigiDemos, QBank, WebWare, and our usual Web materials, such as High School CLIC (Chemed Learning Information Center), and Classroom Activities are available in the conventional Journal and online as Acrobat PDF files. Just for fun see this month’s printed Classroom Activity (pp 384A–B) and then go to our Web site and download the pdf for your class. Next add something to your normal routine like the interesting history and preparation methods on MSG (pp 347–355, 448). You might also like to check out our new presentation of DigiDemos (Tested Demonstrations) on catalyzed reactions that are sometimes confused with substances consumed when reactions are promoted (p 364) and the DigiDemo on PKU screening (p 366). We’re changing, are you? What Can DivCHED Do for You? Did you know that for $20 you can join the Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED)? Membership is open to anyone interested in chemical education (1). Your next question might be: So what if I join—what does this get me? You can participate with the committees on High School Chemistry, Pre-High School Science, Safety, the prestigious Exams Institute, Computers in Chemical Education, and the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) to name a few. The 18th BCCE (2) is just a few months away: July 18– July 24, at Iowa State University. General Chair Tom Greenbowe and Program Chair Mark Freilich, with High School co-chairs Jeff Hepburn and Ken Hartman, are develwww.JCE.DivCHED.org
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Secondary School Featured Article 䊕
JCE Classroom Activity: #61. Checkerboard Chromatography, by Charles A. Smith, p 384A.
oping a strong program for high school teachers. If you are a teacher who is new to chemistry, you will find the BCCE to be a valuable experience, providing you with an excellent source of materials, techniques, chemistry content, and above all giving you an opportunity to make lasting connections with many other people in our community. DivCHED’s Committee on Computers in Chemical Education also organizes online conferences (3). The next online conference “Teaching Computing in Chemistry Courses” is scheduled for September–October, 2004. DivCHED’s parent organization, ACS, offers professional development workshops for teachers on Inquiry Matters (3rd–8th grade teachers), ChemCom, the National Science Education Standards, preparation of future faculty, and many more, such as, ChemCom: An Online Teacher Workshop (4). Renew your commitment to your professional goals, obtain access to information on national and regional meetings, move forward in your education, and don’t forget to tell others to subscribe to the Journal of Chemical Education (5), the most important publication for chemical education. High School Program at the Anaheim ACS Meeting See pp 306–315 for information about the outstanding DivCHED program for Anaheim. Highlights include the CHED social hour and dinner, the High School Program and the High School/College Interface Luncheon (p 314), and the ACS Awards Symposium honoring the Conant Awardee, Toni Watt (p 308). While at the meeting be sure to visit the JCE/DivCHED/Exams Institute at booth 546 in the exposition hall.
JCE at the Atlanta NSTA Meeting The NSTA Convention takes place in Atlanta later in the same week as the ACS meeting, offering many interesting sessions and events. Be sure to visit JCE at booth 2648. We look forward to meeting and talking with you about JCE and all the wonderful opportunities open to you. Literature Cited (accessed Jan 2004) 1. 2. 3. 4.
http://www.divched.org/index.html. http://www.chem.iastate.edu/bcce. http://www.ched-ccce.org/confchem/index.html. http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html? DOC=education\professional\ccworks.html. 5. http://www.jce.divched.org/Subscriptions/index.html.
Vol. 81 No. 3 March 2004
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Journal of Chemical Education
297
