Teaching and Study of Chemistry
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Introduction
This chapter will lead you to materials and sources that will assist in either teaching or 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). 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). George Bodner has written Theoretical Frameworks for Research in Chemistry/Science Education (2007) which reflects the recent upsurge in interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Notable examples of chemistry courses on the Internet showcase efforts to harness the power of the Web to chemistry teaching.
More traditional approaches are found in such journals as the Journal of Chemical Education, the Journal of College Science Teaching, and The Crucible. RSC offers the free electronic journal Chemistry Education Research and Practice (CERP), the journal for teachers, researchers and other practitioners in chemical education. 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), can also be of assistance. The JCE Index Online 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 database. Several printed sources of demonstrations are availble, 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)
At the college level, the ACS's Committee on Professional Training (CPT) 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."
A database for the broader field of education is ERIC, which has extensive coverage of relevant journal articles as well as research reports from 1966 onward.
The Study of Chemistry
The ACS Directory of Graduate Research (DGRWeb) 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 CPT has a number of publications on the Web, such as Planning for Graduate Work in Chemistry" (6th ed., 1997).
Many colleges subscribe to CollegeSource ONLINE, with over 23,000 catalogs from many colleges and universities. Both US and non-US institutions of higher learning are included. Peterson's is another standard source to help find information about college or university programs.
Link to Internet Sources for Teaching and Study of Chemistry
Link to Chemistry Courses on the Internet
This wiki page was originally created by Gary Wiggins. If you have a legitimate desire to contribute to its contents, please request an account from the sysop, Dr. David J. Wild, by e-mailing him at djwild @ indiana.edu
