Research: Science and Education edited by
JCE WebWare
William F. Coleman
Where Does WebWare Stand Today?
Wellesley College Wellesley, MA 02481
W
Randall J. Wildman University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 53715
JCE WebWare was announced with the publication of a mission statement in February 2001 (1), and two reports have appeared since (2, 3). JCE WebWare is available Only@JCE Online and consists of Internet applications for teaching and learning chemistry. Because JCE WebWare is undergoing rapid development, the philosophy of the editors is continually changing, and we publish here a revised version of the mission statement that provides more complete information about how JCE WebWare will operate. Mission Statement The goal of JCE WebWare is to make available to teachers and students tools that can be used in the computer room and the student’s dorm room or home as well as in the classroom and laboratory. These tools may include Java applets, static and dynamic HTML pages, Flash and QuickTime movies, virtual reality (VRML) applications, other animations, applications that can be used over the Internet with helper programs such as Excel, and small standalone programs. All submissions to JCE WebWare must include one or more Internet applications for teaching/learning chemistry. We are looking for applications that are not merely text but involve some element of active learning on the part of the student. We prefer that WebWare materials run on both PCs and Macs, and with both Netscape and Internet Explorer. JCE WebWare is divided into two major categories— open review and peer review. Peer-reviewed materials will go through the Journal’s customary review process. These materials must include significant documentation concerning the application including background, instructions for use, and example exercises. Materials submitted for peer review will be placed in open review until they have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. Then they will be transferred to the peer-review section of WebWare and a brief description (limited to 400 words, and written by the author(s)) will be published in the Journal of Chemical Education. These descriptions will be listed in the table of contents and will therefore be abstracted by Chemical Abstracts. After they have been reviewed, edited, accepted for publication, and published the materials will be available only to JCE subscribers. Materials suitable for the open review category include small applications that are limited in scope but potentially of great utility to some teachers and students (we refer to these applications as snippets), larger applications that are sparsely documented, and applications that do not fit anywhere else. Before any item is placed in open review, the WebWare editors will give it a preliminary evaluation. If an item is considered appropriate for dissemination, it will then be placed in open review. At this point, users will be invited to submit comments on the various applications,
much as is done in some popular commercial websites and in many software archives. Materials in open review will be available to anyone, whether or not they subscribe to JCE. Materials may be submitted with the request that they remain in open review in perpetuity. This means that they will remain freely available for the long term and provides a mechanism by which authors can insure that their materials will be continually available on a stable Web site. As the open review process evolves, our vision is that comments from users will stimulate authors to enhance and improve their applications; help teachers and students select materials appropriate for their use; provide ideas and guidance regarding how best to incorporate materials into courses and individual study; and encourage others to develop WebWare materials. Our objective is to develop a synergistic online community of developers and users. Given the increasing importance of the Internet as a teaching tool, we see WebWare as a logical extension of some earlier and highly successful ways of disseminating computer applications. These approaches include the NSF-funded Project SERAPHIM, JCE Software, the “Computer Bulletin Board”, and other computer-related columns that have appeared in the Journal of Chemical Education. The mantra of JCE Software is “It’s not about software, it is software.” JCE WebWare brings that same concept to the Internet. Rather than focusing on written descriptions of various Web-based applications, JCE WebWare focuses on the applications themselves. In the case of materials in open review, it will consist almost solely of applications that can be freely downloaded and used by anyone. The idea of WebWare will undoubtedly continue to evolve, and we always welcome additions, comments, and suggestions. Send your questions or comments by email to Flick Coleman (
[email protected]) or Randy Wildman (
[email protected]). Details of the submission process may be found at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/WebWare/submit.html. New Materials in Open Review A large number of new materials have just been placed into open review at the WebWare site. These fall into ten categories, which are summarized below. •
Atomic Spectra—three applications that show atomic emission spectra, the Balmer series, and a spreadsheet showing Bohr-atom energy levels.
•
Packing of Spheres in Crystal Lattices—Three applications that show closest packing of spheres and a PowerPoint presentation showing how to derive the Madelung constant.
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Information • Textbooks • Media • Resources •
Visualizing Numerical Methods—Four Flash movies that show graphically how numerical methods work.
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Photoelectric Effect—Graphical simulations and a spreadsheet that help students understand this phenomenon.
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Raman Spectroscopy—A series of graphics that show the origin of Raman scattering and its relation to vibrational energy levels.
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Atomic and Molecular Orbitals—Seven applications that show energy-level diagrams for atoms and molecules and orbital shapes for atomic and molecular orbitals; some orbitals can be rotated in 3-D.
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Radius Ratios—A series of animations that show cubic, octahedral, and tetrahedral holes in closest-packed structures and how to calculate the radius of each kind of hole.
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Microsoft Excel Tutorials—Two visual tutorials that show how to do a trendline and how to make a histogram using Excel.
JCE WebWare
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Molecules—Hundreds of molecular structures that can be displayed using the Chime plug-in available from MDL Information Systems Inc.
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Jablonski Diagram—An animation showing absorption, vibrational relaxation, fluorescence, internal conversion, intersystem crossing, and phosphorescence graphically.
Do you have one or more Web-deliverable applications that others could use? If so, please submit them, either for open review or for peer review. Information on how to submit is provided at the end of the previous section. Literature Cited 1. Coleman, William F. J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 272. 2. Coleman, William F.; Wildman, Randall J., Eds. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 135. 3. Coleman, William F.; Wildman, Randall J., Eds. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 768.
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/WebWare/
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 79 No. 8 August 2002 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
