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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > April  >
Chemical Education Today
Commentary
The First-Day Quiz as a Teaching Technique
Raymond S. Ochs
St. John's University, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439
Cover
April 1998
Vol. 75 No. 4
p. 401
Abstract
The problem with chemical education today is not merely that the students are inattentive, that our instructors are incompetent, or that the subject is intrinsically difficult. I believe the problem is that the fundamentals of the subject are not imparted. As students emerge from the basic courses in chemistry, despite exposure to a range of specific topics, they are commonly unclear on the basic ideas and how they might apply to more advanced topics. In this contribution, I describe a first-day quiz for students in an advanced chemistry class, presented to them ostensibly as a test of basic knowledge. While this approach is not unprecedented, it is apparently rare, as it comes as a surprise to those colleagues I have discussed it with. The important objective of the exercise is to allow students to realize what they don't know about fundamental chemistry, which I have found makes them more receptive to chemical education.
More Information
*  Citation
 Raymond S. Ochs. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 401.
*  Keywords
 Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice, Teaching/Learning Aids, Chemical Education Research
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 25, 1999
June 24, 2005
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