What do you teach about the f-block?

How much detail do you go into when discussing symmetry planes in C_4v molecules? There appears to be a semi-consensus that the vertical (σ_v) planes should contain as many atoms as possible, with the second set of planes (σ_d) bisecting the first.

So, I am a few chapters into "Talent is Overrated" focused on the concept of deliberate practice and I am starting to panic. The idea of deliberate practice as I understand it is that no one gets great at a skill without long periods of practice that are designed by an expert to focus on the aspects of the skills the learner specifically needs to work on. I am uncertain that the exam feedback I give, pointing out which problems are incorrect and providing detailed solutions, does not allow students to know exactly how to practice to improve.

I am thinking of trying Daum and Nelson's Calculations in Chemistry workbook.  A main idea of the workbook is Cognitive Load Theory and getting students to move concepts from short term to long term memory.  A major tenet of the workbook is the idea that memorization of equations and certain constants IS an important step in moving concepts into long term memory.

I would love your input about the Calculations in Chemistry workbook or Cognitive Load Theory in general.

I'm curious about whether your institution or department has an attendance policy for your lab-based classes?

For our courses that include a lab (i.e. - general chemistry with lab), our departmental policy is that if a student misses 3 labs, they fail the entire course.

For courses that are just lab (i.e. - inorganic lab, biochemistry lab), the policy can vary based on instructor. But if a student misses more than two labs, they probaly aren't going to do very well in the course anyways.

Hi all,

I have created short tutorials that show how 3D molecules can easily be created and inserted in PowerPoint. Combined with animations and the powerful Morph slide transition, the use of these 3D molecules can significantly enhance PowerPoint presentations. Perhaps of higher interest to VIPErs will be Tutorials #1 and #3 that show how to create 3D molecules from .cif files and from ChemDraw structures.

Here is a 1-minute introductory video that shows some of what can be done:

Dear VIPEr Colleagues,

I am proposing that we establish a menu on Viper, where we report errors that we found in inorganic texts, so that others do not have to go through the same waste of time as we did when we were trying to understand something that eventually turned out to be incorrect.

I have just found one error recently, which took me a while to finally recognize it as an error, and then I thought about this proposal.

What do others think?

Hello,

Does anyone have a good MO theory lab that they've used that gets students to calculate diatomic MO orbitals, look at them, and look at things like how sp mixing (and orbital energies) varies across the row and how electronegativity differences affect the energy and characters of the resulting orbitals?  Using spectral data and matching it to orbitals would be cool too.  We have a good place to fit this into our intro course this semester and haven't done a lab like this before.