This is an in-class activity that I use in my advanced general chemistry course to teach students how to qualitatively assign oxo anions as non-basic, feebly basic, or basic. Being able to qualitatively make these assignments helps students when we get to predicting solubility of compounds using Bronsted acidity and basicity.
This is an in-class activity that I use in my advanced general chemistry course to teach students how to rank the relative acidity of monoatomic cations and how to qualitatively predict the strength of the interaction of these cations with water (hydration and hydrolysis).
This is an in-class activity that I use in my advanced general chemistry course right before I start teaching about the relationship between the Bronsted acidity of cations and their hydration/hydrolysis. This is the first topic in the course (reactions of ions in aqueous solution), and we would have just spent a lecture reviewing intermolecular forces.
A nanoCHAt conversation about ways that instructors can mentor students in the many-to-one environment of the classroom. Recorded by VIPEr Fellows Carmen Bustos-Works, Robin Macaluso, and Stephanie Poland with Shirley Lin (moderator) on May 25, 2021. The full nanoCHAt playlist can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2wnHWA8OaA5Y6pPaOk2zt6wwrd2HK6kP
A nanoCHAt conversation about ways that instructors can level the playing field for students coming into a course with a variety of academic backgrounds. Recorded by VIPEr Fellows James Dunne, Megan Lazorski, Rudy Luck, and Claude Mertzenich with Shirley Lin (moderator) on April 1, 2021. The full nanoCHAt playlist can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2wnHWA8OaA5Y6pPaOk2zt6wwrd2HK6kP
Sibrina Collins (Lawrence Tech) presented a SLiThEr on April 10, 2021. The topic was her recently releases ACS Symposium Series book entitled "African American Chemists: Academia, Industry, and Social Entrepreneurship". Sibrina presented on stories, both hearing them and telling them. She recounted how she used the VIPEr model of learning objects to make the stories in the book accessible for use in the classroom.
Creating Word files, pdfs, and PowerPoint files in an accessible way addresses equity in the classroom. These web resources are focused on how to create materials for your courses that will be more accessible. There are also some checklists to consult as you are creating materials for your courses (and LOs for this website!) to ensure they meet some basic accessibility guidelines.
*Note that some of the materials link to or refer to resources specific to the University of Mary Washington, but you should be able to find similar resources at your institution.*
This worksheet was designed as an in-class, group activity in a flipped classroom. It relies on an understanding of the octet rule and common charges of various elements, as well as basic nomenclature of ionic compounds. The worksheet teaches students to balance simple redox reactions (in which only the oxidized and reduced atoms are present) by identifying half-reactions, counting electrons transferred, and multiplying half-reactions to "cancel" electrons.
This is a worksheet designed for a flipped-classroom, in-class activity during the first course in our chemistry sequence. It teaches the basics of Molecular Orbital Theory from a semi-qualitative standpoint, by showing the constructive and destructive overlap of s-orbital "wavefunctions." The activity illustrates the formation of the bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals in H2, shows its molecular orbital diagram, and introduces the concept of bond order.
This nanoCHAt by Dave Benson, Meghan Porter, and Darren Achey with Hilary Eppley (moderator) on April 13, 2021 was a second one on the topic of the art of giving effective feedback to students without creating too onerous a workload for faculty.
The full nanoCHAt playlist can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2wnHWA8OaA5Y6pPaOk2zt6wwrd2HK6kP