Letter to the editor

When I shared my findings at a 1983 conference, there was not much interest. By 1991, Dr. George Bodnar, Purdue University, was giving a ChemEd 91 talk on problem solving using Polya’s methods to a packed room. I am not aware of how many teachers tried these methods.

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Category: Feature From our readers Letters to the Editor

Formal lab reports must die

Remember formal lab reports from your undergrad days? Multiple page affairs starting with an abstract, followed by an introduction, experimental, data, calculations and ending with the (dreaded) discussion. These reports did me a lot of good.

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Category: Pedagogy, opinion and advice Viewpoint and advice

Re: Why are these tough questions?

In the September 2014 issue, we asked readers for their feedback on five items from last year’s CHEM 13 NEWS Exam. Based on item analysis these questions were considered good discriminators between strong and weak students. Here are some of your responses.

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Category: Student challenges Outreach Contests

Reaction types energize learning

Chemical reactions are the most exciting part of chemistry class. Over the past five years I have developed an experience-based chemical reactions unit that features instructional videos coupled with a small group laboratory experience, whole-class demonstrations, and an interactive “demo test” as a final assessment.

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Category: Activities Classroom