The author replies to Cardelli.

We have never met, but Prof. Cardellini is a dear friend. He says nice things about me, and I like that! However, considering the task laid out in his closing paragraph, “With friends like this, who needs enemies!”

Capturing and keeping student interest and steering it toward goals that we deem important is a daunting task. Telling someone else how to do it is much harder! There are too many variables. Students’ personalities, life experiences, moods, and attitudes vary widely, as do those of teachers. Lessons that work splendidly Monday morning fail miserably Tuesday afternoon. And we may not know either result!

What I said about student interest and motivation made the final chapter of The Chemistry Classroom (1), not because it is the least important part of teaching chemistry, but because I was least certain about what to say. The ideas presented there are sound, as are related ideas presented in a High School Forum article (2). But the material is general, and what every teacher yearns for is a prescription for success. Alas, there is none. We each must tune our antennae to signals emanating from students, here and now, process the signals for meaning, and search our memory banks for pregnant ideas, ready to be born into students’ minds.

There is definitely science involved in teaching, but there is art as well.

Literature Cited

1. Herron, J. D. The Chemistry Classroom: Formulas for Successful Teaching; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1996; pp 241–259.
2. Herron, J. D. J. Chem. Educ. 1978 55, 190–191.