Promoting Interest in and Understanding of Chemistry for 90 Years
The August 2013 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online [http://pubs.acs.org/toc/jceda8/90/8]. This latest issue of JCE plus the content of all past issues, volumes 1 through 90, are available at http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc.
Cover: Visual Isotope Effects
Color changes in the vials (at 30, 90, 330, and 930 s, back to front) of Cr(VI) oxidation reactions demonstrate a visually accessible kinetic isotope effect. When students are shown this in-class demonstration or the companion video, they are able to see an isotope effect as evidence for a rate-determining C–H abstraction step in the oxidation process.
In his guest Editorial, Brian P. Coppola discusses The Distinctiveness of Higher Education and examines the fundamental questions about the goals, needs, and objectives of an education.
Chemistry Education Research: Examining Student Views of Learning
In Effect of Teaching Metacognitive Learning Strategies on Performance in General Chemistry Courses, Elzbieta Cook, Eugene Kennedy, and Saundra Y. McGuire examine how many students experience difficulty because they are focused on memorizing facts and formulas instead of understanding concepts and developing problem-solving skills. In their research, they find that students can be successful if they are taught how to shift their efforts from low-level to higher-order thinking.
Kristina M. Mazzarone and Nathaniel P. Grove look at Understanding Epistemological Development in First- and Second-Year Chemistry Students and find that the beliefs they hold about the very nature of learning are essential to the attitudes, beliefs, and expectations that students bring to their study of chemistry.
Analysis of the Alternative Conceptions of Preservice Teachers and High School Students Concerning Atomic Size by Guluzar Eymur, Pinar Çetin, and Ömer Geban
Discovering Periodicity: Hands-On, Minds-On Organization of the Periodic Table by Visualizing the Unseen by Jodye Selco, Mary Bruno, and Sue Chan
The Periodic Pyramid by Jennifer N. Hennigan and W. Tandy Grubbs
From Periodic Properties to a Periodic Table Arrangement by Emili Besalú
A Teaching Exercise To Introduce Stable Isotope Fractionation of Metals into Geochemistry Courses by Dominik J. Weiss, Caroline Harris, Kate Maher, and Thomas
Inquiry-Based Activities with a Consumer Chemistry Focus
The Color-Changing Sports Drink: An Ingestible Demonstration by Rhonda L. Stoddard and J. Scott McIndoe
Chemical Composition of Sodium Percarbonate: An Inquiry-Based Laboratory Exercise by Takeshi Wada and Nobuyoshi Koga
Detection of Nitrite in Water Using Minoxidil as a Reagent by Mario González-Jiménez, Jorge Arenas-Valgañón, Isaac F. Céspedes-Camacho, Juan Carlos García-Prieto, Emilio Calle, and Julio Casado
A Game for the Early and Rapid Assimilation of Organic Nomenclature by Rayane F. Moreira
Fastest Fingers: A Molecule-Building Game for Teaching Organic Chemistry by Michael L. Eastwood
Using Essential Oils To Teach Advanced-Level Organic Chemistry Separation Techniques and Spectroscopy by Tina M. Bott and Hayley Wan
Green Carbonyl Condensation Reactions Demonstrating Solvent and Organocatalyst Recyclability by Jason M. Stacey, Andrew P. Dicks, Aaron A. Goodwin, Brittney M. Rush, and Manisha Nigam
A Mixed-Aldol Condensation Reaction with Unknown Aldehydes and Ketones: Employing Modern Methods To Improve the Learning Process for Second-Year Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Students by Amy M. Balija and Aileen M. Reynolds
Permaleic Acid: Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation of Cyclododecanone by Douglass F. Taber and Jack Qiu
Photochemistry Is Back in the Undergraduate Organic Laboratory by Douglass F. Taber and Craig M. Paquette
Chemical Education Research
Teaching with Technology
Qualitative Assessment of a 3D Simulation Program: Faculty, Students, and Bio-Organic Reaction Animations by Adalet B. Günersel and Steven A. Fleming
Three-Dimensional Atomic Orbital Plots in the Classroom Using Winplot by Wilfredo Credo Chung
The Molecule Calculator: A Web Application for Fast Quantum Mechanics-Based Estimation of Molecular Properties by Jan H. Jensen and Jimmy C. Kromann
From the Archives: Demonstrations
Lecture demonstrations have been part of the Journal's history from the beginning. This issue features a demonstration on the cover and others, including a simple demonstration of vapor pressure lowering. Past issues include many demonstrations, such as:
The Art of the Lecture Demonstration from 1925
Hubert N. Alyea's many columns for Tested Demonstrations, which was started in 1955
A discussion of kinetics and the blue bottle demonstration by J. A. Campbell in 1963, and many variations of this now classic demonstration, including a green version and accompanying classroom activity from 2003
With 90 Years of Issues, There's a Wealth of Resources Available in JCE
You will find all of the articles mentioned above, and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available.