Crystallizing Classroom Chemists: From Isolated Disorder to Organized Interaction in the Teaching of Chemistry. A History of the Effort To Create a National Chemical Education Organization
James J. Bohning
Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Chemistry was an integral part of the culture of the earliest settlements in America, but for almost two centuries it languished as a nascent profession, plagued in part by a lack of suitable textbooks and a "dearth of competent teachers". A few individuals, such as Benjamin Silliman and Amos Eaton, acted as seed crystals in attracting and preparing some chemistry teachers, yet as late as the beginning of World War I, "the average isolated teacher had to work out his own salvation as best he could with the aid of an occasional book agent". Small regional organizations of teachers did exist at this time, but achieved little in connecting teachers on a national level. It was out of this amorphous mixture that the American Chemical Society‘s Division of Chemical Education (DIVCHED) solidified, uniting at last a dedicated group of teachers with common problems and a passionate dedication to their discipline and their students.
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Citation
Bohning, James J. J. Chem. Educ.2003 80 642.
Keywords
Conferences; History / Philosophy; Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice; Textbooks
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