Chemical Information Sources/Teaching and Studying Chemistry

1
Chemical Information Sources/Teaching and
Studying Chemistry
Introduction
It is sometimes the case that a chemist is asked to teach a course with little or no guidance or preparation. Likewise,
students could often profit from consulting supplemental materials to assist in understanding certain aspects of
chemistry. This chapter will lead you to materials and sources that will be useful for both teaching and studying
chemistry.
Teaching of Chemistry
There are not a lot of books available to teach you how to teach chemistry, particularly at the post-secondary level.
Attempting to fill that gap is a work by J. Dudley Herron The Chemistry Classroom: Formulas for Successful
Teaching (1996). The well-known chemistry educator Diane Bunce has written Survival Handbook for the New
Chemistry Instructor (2004). Another book is Pienta, Cooper, and Greenbowe's Chemists' Guide to Effective
Teaching (2009) For physical chemistry, you may want to consult Physical Chemistry: Developing a Dynamic
Curriculum (1993). More general works are Teaching Science: A Guide for College and Professional School
Instructors (1991) and A Handbook for Teachers in Universities and Colleges: A Guide to Improving Teaching
Methods (1995). A comprehensive guide to chemistry textbooks can be found at the Chemical Education Resource
Shelf
[1]
. George Bodner has written Theoretical Frameworks for Research in Chemistry/Science Education (2007)
which reflects the recent upsurge of interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Notable examples of
chemistry courses on the Web showcase efforts to harness the power of the Web to chemistry teaching.
Innovative approaches to teaching chemistry are found in such journals as the ACS Division of Chemical
Education's Journal of Chemical Education
[2]
, the Journal of College Science Teaching
[3]
, and The Crucible. The
Royal Society of Chemistry's Education in Chemistry
[4]
is described as a journal for teachers of chemistry at all
levels. The Bibliography of Chemical Education Journals and the various newsletters from relevant professional
groups, such as CHED (the newsletter of the ACS Division of Chemical Education
[5]
), can also be of assistance.
The JCE Index Online
[6]
can be searched for author names and titles from 1924 onward, but a complete list of
keyword index terms has been supplied for articles published since mid-1995. The Journal of Chemical Education's
laboratory experiments are now easily accessible through the Project CHEMLAB
[7]
database. Several printed
sources of demonstrations are available, for example,
Chemical Demonstrations: A Sourcebook for Teachers (2 v., 1988)
Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers (4 v., 1983-92)
Tested Demonstrations in Chemistry (2 v., 1994)
Inquiry-Based Experiments in Chemistry, (2000).
At the college level, the ACS's Committee on Professional Training (CPT)
[8]
issues guidelines for certification of
programs of chemistry instruction. Those can be found on the Web as: "Undergraduate Professional Education in
Chemistry: Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures
[9]
."
A database for the broader field of education is ERIC
[10]
, which has extensive coverage of relevant journal articles
as well as research reports from 1966 onward. A lot of chemistry material is included in ERIC.
Chemical Information Sources/Teaching and Studying Chemistry
2
The Study of Chemistry
The ACS Directory of Graduate Research (DGRWeb
[11]
) can be a great help in selecting a graduate school in the
US or Canada. Issued every two years by the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training
(CPT), it covers the main disciplines of chemistry, including biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry,
environmental science, marine science, medicinal and/or pharmaceutical chemistry, polymers and materials science,
toxicology.
The ACS CPT
[8]
has a number of publications on the Web, such as Planning for Graduate Work in Chemistry
[12]
"
(8th ed., 2010).
Many colleges subscribe to CollegeSource ONLINE
[13]
, with over 23,000 catalogs from many colleges and
universities. Both US and non-US institutions of higher learning are included. Peterson's
[14]
is another standard
source to help find information about college or university programs.
Summary
By availing yourself of the growing literature on the scholarship of teaching and learning, the best practices of
master chemistry teachers and educators can be found. There are also many tools to help you select an educational
institution if a formal degree in chemistry is your goal.
CIIM Link for further study
SIRCh Link for Teaching and Studying Chemistry
SIRCh Link for Chemistry Courses on the Web
References
[1] http:/ / www. jce.divched. org/ JCEWWW/ Features/ CERS/
[2] http:/ / pubs. acs. org/ journal/ jceda8
[3] http:/ / www. nsta.org/ college/
[4] http:/ / www. rsc.org/ education/ eic/
[5] http:/ / www. divched. org/
[6] http:/ / jchemed. chem. wisc.edu/ Journal/ Search/ index. html
[7] http:/ / jchemed. chem. wisc.edu/ JCEWWW/ Features/ Chemlab/ index. html
[8] http:/ / portal. acs.org/ portal/ acs/ corg/ content?_nfpb=true& _pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN& node_id=1540& use_sec=false&
sec_url_var=region1& __uuid=d73dbc59-29f4-4d64-87cf-44957a6f08f2
[9] http:/ / portal. acs.org/ portal/ PublicWebSite/ about/ governance/ committees/ training/ acsapproved/ degreeprogram/ WPCP_008491
[10] http:/ / www.eric. ed. gov/
[11] http:/ / dgr.rints.com/
[12] http:/ / portal.acs. org/ portal/ PublicWebSite/ education/ students/ graduate/ CNBP_022480
[13] http:/ / www.collegesource. org/
[14] http:/ / www.petersons. com/
Article Sources and Contributors
3
Article Sources and Contributors
Chemical Information Sources/Teaching and Studying Chemistry Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?oldid=2063875 Contributors: Adrignola, Avicennasis, Gary Dorman
Wiggins, 2 anonymous edits
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/