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The following does not seem to constitute a "Provocative Opinion", a section which is so interesting in the Journal of Chemical Education. Neither is it exactly a letter to the editor. It is just a response to J. N. Cooper's "Open Letter to a Burned-Out Teacher" where he so eloquently stated the challenge "to sort out among the armatorium of educational techniques those you are willing to try in the battle against the evils of ignorance and intellectual lethargy You would be surprised how simple some are to adopt; how downright pleasurable the results can be" (1). My comment is in corroboration of the last sentence and how I was able to slip in a bit of a fresh approach with minimal effort. How we use this stuff is quite personal. Perhaps my experience will inspire others to try/share their own.
In an attempt to optimize learning experiences, I am incorporating bits and pieces of "new technology" or alternative teaching approaches into my Chemistry 103 class. It is a small (35 student) course of Chemistry Majorsnot especially the best students (those are in the Honors 103 class) but a very big range of students. Most of my teaching is via traditional lectures. I have, however used the following ancillaries.
· Email. A separate address has been set up for Chem 103 students to access me. Here they are very free to ask for help, set up appointments, clarify a concept or problem, discuss chemistry, freshman coping skills, etc. I really enjoy this correspondence. Of course some use it more than others, but even if only a third of the class actively communicates, it gives me a much better handle on their development. And I get to know some students by name, skill level, and most importantly, personality much more quickly. Another benefit: questions are better thought out, more specific than when students just show up for office hours.
· Internet. Thus far I've only used this for the Berkeley Mirror Periodic Table. Each student was assigned an element to search for specific properties, which were recorded in the back of his or her notebook. For example, on the day I presented trends in ionization potential energies, I simply called out elements and students called back the values, which I wrote on the board, and we saw the trend in terms of real numbers. It was really a lot of fun. I think this could be used for "Group Learning" quizzes, also.
· "Group Learning" (2). I have approached this by having students in class form informal groups of 4 or 5 and I assign each group a problem from a sheet given to all. After a 10-min discussion, I call the question and each group calls its answer. We deal with uncertainties. These were usually planted in the questions to emphasize or "cover" interesting issues not addressed in lecture. I don't think this should replace my lectures. But it is a useful adjunct and break. The students seem to really enjoy this for the chemistry as well as the opportunity to meet each other. (They are 18 and 19 years old, you know!)
Literature Cited
1. Cooper, J. M. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 1098.
2. Cooper, M. M. J. Chem. Educ. 1995, 72, 162.
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