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A Chemical Information Assignment for Nonscience Majors
Abstract
The chemical information needs of nonscience majors are equally important compared to those of science majors but require a focus on different types of information. An assignment has been created to help nonscience majors gain familiarity with chemical information, specifically focusing on Internet resources and practical applications. The students are asked to research an urban legend, to establish connections between chemistry and their majors, to discover the types and sources of pollution that affect their hometowns, to determine the health and environmental hazards associated with a specific chemical, and then to apply their information to the task of writing a risk–benefit analysis of living in their hometowns. The assignments are personalized for each student and were better received that the original term paper assignment used in previous years. Keywords (Audience): High School / Introductory Chemistry
... 6 These efforts are not limited to classes for chemistry majors, some chemistry classes for nonscience majors also provide training on how to search for relevant scholarly chemical information. 7,8 Although library search skills are taught in the context of a chemistry class, they are generalizable and of value regardless of the student's major. Moreover, a core first-year chemistry course provides an excellent environment for teaching basic information skills early in a student's academic career. ...
A first-year chemistry course is ideal for introducing students to finding and using scholarly information early in their academic careers. A four-pronged approach (lectures, homework problems, videos, and model solutions) was used to incorporate library research skills into a large lecture-based course. Pre- and post-course surveying demonstrated this to be effective and scalable way to teach these life-long skills, requiring minimal additional effort and time on the part of the lecturer. © 2012 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
... As a result, there has been a shift in pedagogy among colleges and universities from the traditional survey courses of the past toward courses that are more relevant to the nonscience major. Many such courses are described in articles published in this Journal (2)(3)(4), including a recent one that discussed the goals and challenges of the introductory chemistry course for nonscience majors and in particular a unique chemical information assignment in which students researched urban legends, pollution in their hometowns, and the relationship between chemistry and their majors (5). ...
Napoleon's Buttons is an engaging account of 17 molecules that affected history giving the importance and structural formula of each molecules. The book states that there is an intricate connection between the chemical structure of compound and its properties and this connection provides the key link between chemical structures and pivotal moments in history and development of society.
A broad range of information and communication competencies are required of science professionals and a scientifically literate populace. To systematically develop such knowledge, skills, and attitudes, undergraduate students must be exposed early and often to learning opportunities and instruction that explicitly embed these goals within and across disciplinary contexts. This chapter describes a successful example of chemical information instruction and writing practice in a large-enrollment General Chemistry lecture course populated by a diversity of science and engineering majors. Highlighted are the objectives, design, iterative implementations, outcomes, challenges, and future adaptations of a project titled "Chemistry in a Sustainable Context".
Teaching chem. information is a part of the job of every chem. information professional, as well as many chem. professors. Over the years, many different styles and formats for imparting information skills to students have evolved. While some individuals, particularly in earlier years, think that a dedicated course is the best way to teach students to use the literature, the trend in the early 21st Century has been towards course-integrated instruction. This article provides a contemplative look at some core ideas that all instructors should bear in mind when attempting to teach chem. information skills in the classroom and concludes with a no. of classroom activities that incorporate these skills. [on SciFinder(R)]
In our focus on material that must be covered in a content-rich course such as first-year chemistry, we often neglect the development of other essential skills such as reading, writing, and critical thinking. The primary research literature summary assignment described attempts to address this issue. The purpose of the assignment is to introduce first-year students to the primary scientific literature, including the ability to search and access hard-copy and electronic library resources. In addition, the assignment engages students towards more broadly contextualizing chemical theory covered during lectures. In our experience, we found the curriculum addition is neither a time burden to students in its preparation, nor to instructors in its assessment. These factors allow the exercise to be implemented in courses of any size. Keywords (Audience): First-Year Undergraduate / General
The ability to access chemical literature is an important skill for the developing chemist. Although the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University chemistry department had implemented a variety of individual exercises into the introductory course sequence to help students develop literature searching skills, second-year students still struggled with the navigation of the bewildering maze of resources, texts, and databases. This article describes an activity for organic laboratory instructors to coach students on how to prioritize and use a multitude of resources to locate a specific literature procedure. This activity is based on the idea that students find a dialogic approach to be more helpful to consolidate learning and applying knowledge.
Purpose
– Sets out to provide a selected bibliography or recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
– Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and exhibition catalogues examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
– Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
– The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
With the growing availability of electronic databases, online journal publications, and open-access publishing, there is unprecedented access to research materials. Increasingly, these materials are being incorporated into chemistry curricula and being used by undergraduate students in literature research. Internet savvy students can effectively access this information, but the question remains “Do students really know how to use the chemical literature?” Building from basic information literacy skills, we have implemented a series of assignments in organic chemistry to help students evaluate, interpret, and use chemical literature. We refer to these skills as chemical research literacy, which provides a solid foundation for literature research in upper-level courses and undergraduate research.Keywords (Audience): Second-Year Undergraduate; Upper-Division Undergraduate
Community service should always be a component of teaching. Where the attitude needed for giving back to the community comes from is up for debate, but you never know where you will plant the seed unless you get involved. Keywords (Audience): High School / Introductory Chemistry
The Internet—and its graphically attractive application, the World Wide Web (WWW)—is potentially a powerful educational tool.
Barrie and Presti discuss three ways in which the WWW can be profitably used in education: as a giant encyclopedia, as a virtual
classroom, and as a supplement to conventional courses.
The Internet has rapidly emerged as an important resource of chemistry information. Discovering the scope of the information available and how to find it should be a part of the undergraduate education of every chemistry student. Interesting, challenging, and relevant searches on the Internet motivate students to gain navigation experience while (it is hoped!) increasing their desire to learn chemistry. A variety of investigations are suggested to introduce students to different search techniques and reinforce and supplement their knowledge of chemistry. As a result of performing the exercises, students should have a good sense of the role the Internet can play in their chemistry literature searches. Keywords (Audience): High School / Introductory Chemistry
CIRRUS, the Chemistry Internet Resource for Research by Undergraduate Students, is provided as an Internet-based resource in support of the undergraduate chemical research enterprise. Keywords (Audience): Second-Year Undergraduate
This paper describes a one-semester undergraduate chemical literature course that incorporates both traditional and online searching techniques. The discussion covers course enrollment and organization, lecture topics, and the associated library exercises, and a correlation table of lecture topics and library exercises is included in the paper. Keywords (Audience): Second-Year Undergraduate
Synopsis of a descriptive chemistry course designed to familiarize students with the chemistry of the elements, as well as the wide variety of resources containing information on the properties of the elements and their associated compounds; includes examples of homework and other assessments used in the course. Keywords (Audience): First-Year Undergraduate / General
Sample assignments, databases searched, and evaluation of online search assignments. Keywords (Audience): First-Year Undergraduate / General