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It is the time of year when the bookstore is hounding me for my past-due textbook selection for the fall! It has been several years since I've taught our inorganic course at the junior/senior level with pre- and post-P-Chem students. The last few times I've used various editions of Housecroft and Sharpe, and I'm considering that again. I'd also be interested in what peope think of the new Miessler, Tarr, and Fischer. Since I am still waiting on Housecroft and Sharpe new edition--anything you can tell me about the new versions of each of these books relative to the older versions would be much appreicated!
Hi all,
I too would love to hear what people think of the new texts compared to the older ones. I bugged my rep for copies of the new texts, but haven't recieved them yet.
-Kyle
I use older (3rd and 4th) editions of Miessler and Tarr. The 5th edition has removed too much useful material (nuclear and environmental chemistry) for me to use it. The older editions are cheaper as well.
I just got my new copy of Housecroft and Sharpe over the weekend and started looking at it--looks like it also got rid of the nuclear chemistry chapter (but kept a discussion of nuclear decay in the actinide/actinoid chapter). One cool thing that they did was to put all the experimental techniques together in one chapter early on. I can totally see using this chapter for my lab class. I'll continue to peruse and let you know if anything else strikes me. I still wish they made this book in hardcover. :(
Hi All,
One thing I noticed is that the complete solutions manual for MFT 5th ed is available to anyone for free as a pdf on Pearson's website. I plan on using that textbook and directing the students to the solutions manual so that they can check the answers to practice problems that I will suggest to study for HW/exams. Some of the images might also be useful for us instructors to use during examples in class.
Just thought i would pass that along in case anyone was unaware.
Cheers,
Kyle
This week I got the dreaded email... the bookstore asked what book. This year I'd like to use Tom Mallouk's class' Inorganic Chemistry Wiki Textbook (https://www.ionicviper.org/web-resources-and-apps/inorganic-chemistry-w…). My course doesn't have the same materials focus as Tom's course, but I think it will work almost as well as the books that I've used in the past.
I have two questions for the IONiC community:
1. Have you ever taught with the wikibook? If so, I'd appreciate it if you would share your feedback about using the book with students.
2. Have you ever taught inorganic without a textbook? What strategies do you have for teaching without a book?
Thanks!
Barb
Last semester for my pre-pchem Inorganic course, I did not require students to purchase a textbook and instead posted chapters or linked online resources. I used Tom's Inorganic Chemistry Wiki quite a bit, as well as assorted other chapters for more in-depth treatment of certain topics. For each topic in the course, I posted links to resources with a very short introduction about what I expect students to get out of each resource. In the past I have toggled back and forth between Miessler and Tarr and no textbook. The general sense I get from students is that they would like to have a really good textbook, but if they can't have that then they would like something free.
Has anybody looked at "Inorganic Chemistry for Geochemistry and Environmental Sciences" by George Luther? What do you think of it? It has the foundational Inorganic topics in an interesting context.
Kate - check out this review of that book by Rachel Narehood Austin
https://www.ionicviper.org/textbook/inorganic-chemistry-geochemistry-an…
Barb & Kate-
I've used MFT for the last two years in our pre-P Chem course and supplemented by writing my own notes (2-3 pages per lecture) and distributing to students. I did run this course one semester without a textbook and I found students picking random sources for explanations; many did not fit with my course objectives. It requires a fair amount of work, but maintaining my own meta-text with a regular textbook (MFT) has removed a significant amount of anxiety. The one aspect that I love about Housecroft & Sharpe is that it provides a thorough review of main group (and d-block) reaction chemistry. My meta-text has blended Housecroft & Sharpe, Glen Rodgers Descriptive Inorganic text, and trends from Mingos' Essential Inorganic after wrestling with teaching this material off and on for a decade.