Rigorous treatment of the chemistry of inorganic compounds, including structure, properties, and reactions, and their interpretation in terms of quantum chemistry, and solid state chemistry; analysis with modern instrumentation.
The "Lit Masters" concept is inspired by and adapted from one of my colleagues, Jenn Manak, in our education department. Students who are novices to reading the literature often are overwhelmed when assigned a paper to read and may struggle in group discussions. The strategy is to assign students to a semester-long group with designated roles for each paper that require them to produce a low-stakes artifact prior to class. During class time groups discuss the paper and it is followed with a debrief.
In this SLiThEr, we discuss the construction, implementation and results of a departmental climate survey. Included with the LO are the questions that were administered to students as part of the climate survey.
Patrick Barber (The University of West Florida) demonstrates strategies to teach f-block chemistry to undergraduates.
Have you heard about alternate grading systems such as specifications (specs) grading, but don't think you have the time or energy to remake a whole curriculum? Come hear about a hybrid-points-specs grading system! The hybrid system does not require a complete course redesign, but still integrates standards-based grading practices that promote mastery of material and make grading easier. Implementation and outcomes in general chemistry and inorganic chemistry classes is discussed.
Dr. Rebecca Jones from Geoge Mason University presented and led a discussion on peer review in chemistry. The Youtube Video is shown below and linked as well.
Our panelist, Madalyn Radlauer (San Jose State), Jacob Lutter (Univ. Southern Indiana), and Chris Whitehead (Union College), discuss how to approach the PUI faculty job search.They bring the perspectives of those who have recently navigated the process and those who have served on faculty search committees.
A colleague and I started using this Peer Review "lab" activity in our studio-based General Chemistry II course to get students to critically think about what they and their peers were writing on lab reports. When the studio-based course was axed, we continued it in the traditional lab during the fifth or sixth week of a 14 week semester.
Descriptive chemistry of the main group elements with some emphasis on the non-metals. Transition metal compounds: aspects of bonding, spectra, and reactivity; complexes of n-acceptor ligands; organometallic compounds and their role in catalysis; metals in biological systems; preparative, analytical, and instrumental techniques.
The activity is designed to give students practice and formative feedback in building and delivering professional presentations. After discussing a literature paper in class, students create one slide presenting a major point or idea from the paper. Students then present their slide briefly (5 min), and the entire class critiques the slide and presentation with two guiding questions: What was done well? What could have been better?