Journal of Chemical Education最新文献

Computational molecular modeling, with its powerful visualization capabilities, enhances students’ understanding of chemical concepts across various subfields. Introducing quantum chemical calculations at the undergraduate level is essential, but it presents academic challenges. To address this, we developed an integrated learning approach that combines experimental and computational spectroscopy, molecular geometry, and electronic structure analysis using 2-(4-formylbenzyl) malononitrile as a model compound. This educational module enables students to explore the structural elucidation of simple organic compounds and compare gas-phase optimized geometrical parameters with corresponding experimental data. Through this process, students gain deeper insight into fundamental chemical concepts such as molecular geometry, bonding, and structure–property relationships. By bridging theoretical concepts with hands-on research experience, this current study offers an effective strategy for incorporating advanced computational chemistry and crystallographic structure analysis into undergraduate curriculum.

As the chemical industry evolves in response to technological and global challenges, Master’s-level chemistry programs must adapt to prepare graduates for workforce success. This article explores how such programs can better integrate professional skills such as communication, collaboration, and research. Drawing on literature and stakeholder interviews from a review of the Chemistry M.S. and Pharmaceutical Biochemistry M.S. programs at Montclair State University, a Hispanic Serving Institution in New Jersey’s pharmaceutical hub, we identified four key themes: the importance of hands-on research experiences, the integration of professional skills development, the need for flexible course and credit requirements, and the challenges of sustaining small programs. While independent research offers valuable experience, access can be limited by students’ financial and time constraints. Financial support and even brief, course-based research opportunities can mitigate this gap. Using experiential learning and communities of practice as guiding frameworks, we offer actionable recommendations for increasing curriculum relevance, equity, and workforce alignment. The insights are broadly applicable to institutions seeking to modernize master’s level chemistry education for a diverse student population.

Interdisciplinary integration is an inevitable trend in the development of science and technology, as well as the reform and development of higher education. With the rapid development of biomaterials in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, many undergraduate students in chemistry and materials science have been focusing on life sciences as well as pursuing careers in healthcare. Hydrogel, as a kind of biomaterial, has been widely applied in biomedical fields including 3D cell culture, protein delivery, controlled release of drugs, and tissue engineering repair due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and similarity with human soft tissue in composition, structure, and properties. Therefore, we believe that it is crucial for undergraduates to be exposed to the fabrication and property studies of biomedical hydrogel before they pursue further graduate education or a career in biomedical fields. In this laboratory experiment, a multifunctional hydrogel dressing fabricated by methacryloyl hyaluronic acid (HA-GMA) and tannic acid (TA) for skin wound healing is designed for the undergraduates. This interdisciplinary experiment not only covers the hydrogel’s preparation, structural characterization, and physical multifunction measurement but also involves its biological multifunctional evaluation for promoting wound healing at the cell/bacterial level. Students indicate that this experiment reflects the interdisciplinary of chemistry, materials, and biology, which reinforces their chemistry experiment skills, expands their interdisciplinary knowledge and experimental skills, enriches their exposure to instruments, and increases their interest in the medicinal applications of biomaterials.

This article explores the integration of well salt production in southwest China, a culturally relevant real-world context, into middle school chemistry education. The lesson aimed to engage students in meaningful learning by helping them apply their existing chemistry knowledge to address real-world problems. Recognizing the complexity of these problems, the lesson also incorporated interdisciplinary and sustainability education to encourage students to develop a holistic understanding of real-world issues. The lesson was structured into three stages: a Pre-Class Preparation Stage, where students researched the origins of locally sold salt to introduce well salt; a Classroom Inquiry Stage, where they investigated ancient Chinese methods of well salt production, including salt crystallization, fuel selection, and impurity removal techniques; and a Post-Class Extension Stage, where they explored modern well salt production. Based on student feedback collected through postlesson surveys, the lesson successfully met its educational objectives, facilitated student knowledge construction, and enhanced their problem-solving skills, while helping them develop an appreciation for cultural significance, interdisciplinary connections, and responsible citizenship.

Studies on the teaching and learning of chemistry at two-year institutions are sparse compared to studies at four-year institutions. Two-year institutions, though, serve a sizable number of students taking chemistry courses that eventually enter the workforce directly or seek advanced studies at four-year institutions. There is little understanding of the instructional and assessment practices enacted at two-year institutions compared to peer-reviewed studies on the instructional and assessment practices at four-year institutions. Our work in this study provides a starting point for understanding such practices. A national survey was administered to faculty members at two-year postsecondary institutions in the United States with a focus on three key chemistry courses: general chemistry, organic chemistry, and general-organic-biochemistry (GOB). Descriptive statistics are provided for discussing the use of instructional and assessment practices and their implications for teaching and learning. We found that instructional and assessment practices used by two-year institutions mirror those used by four-year institutions: for example, lecture-based instruction and summative assessment predominate enacted practices. Results of our work suggest there is an opportunity to reflect on the practices used in chemistry course contexts at two-year institutions and a call for increasing collaboration between two-year and four-year institutions to best support students across all postsecondary chemistry courses.

The awarding of the 2025 Nobel Prize for work with Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) presents a variety of connections to teaching and learning chemistry. A collection has been created of 31 articles that have appeared in the Journal where MOFs have been incorporated in the chemistry content of educational innovations. This editorial provides a brief description of this project.

The implementation of safe practices in undergraduate laboratories is paramount for mitigating accidents and fostering responsible laboratory techniques. This experiment introduces the use of biodegradable hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) capsules for handling catalysts and a potentially hazardous but highly important and a useful reagent, sodium azide, in water-based two-step one-pot click chemistry, aligning with Green Chemistry Principles by emphasizing cleaner solvents, energy-efficient design, and the reduction of chemical waste while teaching an important organic transformation and essential technical skills to undergraduate students. In these domino nucleophilic substitution and click reactions, the post-reaction product is filtered, eliminating the reliance on toxic organic solvents for extraction and purification, while the generated waste can be repurposed within the research laboratory, thereby enhancing sustainability. Designed for a 3 h lab session, this experiment is characterized by its safety, reproducibility, adaptability, and intensive learning opportunity, making it suitable for different levels of the undergraduate curriculum. By engaging in this practice, students cultivate a sense of responsibility toward Green Chemistry and are better equipped to make environmentally informed decisions in future research or industry roles.

We describe a reaction design activity that targets the simultaneous development of students’ computational chemistry skills and research skills through the challenge of designing the fastest Diels–Alder reaction. The activity exposes students to core quantum chemistry techniques, such as optimizing the geometries of ground states and transition states, visualizing molecular orbitals and vibrations, calculating energy barriers, and comparing the accuracies and costs of different methods. By embedding these practices within a scaffolded, inquiry-based process, the activity aims to develop students’ investigative skills─designing a project, evaluating assumptions, dealing with setbacks, and collaborating with a team─thereby simulating authentic computational chemistry research. The activity can be conducted in a minimum of 8 h class time (e.g. four 2 h sessions) providing a self-contained, hands-on introduction to the practice of computational chemistry.

The growing presence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), such as ChatGPT, has already begun to alter the scientific landscape. In addition to the utility of GenAI, there are also concerns about its ethical use. The rapid introduction of GenAI means that science undergraduate curricula need to be updated to address this technological evolution. To that end, we report here an assignment for an organic materials chemistry course incorporating ChatGPT. This two week activity involves students using ChatGPT to generate short essays on course topics and then critiquing and editing the generated information. Students reported that this assignment helped their understanding of the course topics and that they enjoyed the activity overall. Additionally, we address some of the issues we encountered when implementing this assignment due to the unpredictable nature of ChatGPT, and the solutions we found for them. Overall, students felt that this assignment was valuable for improving their grasp of the course topics without an excessive time commitment.

A microscale synthesis of a naphthalimide fluorescent was redesigned, upscaled, and integrated into the syllabus of an undergraduate introductory organic chemistry laboratory course as an inquiry-based experiment teaching basic thin layer chromatography (TLC) techniques. The students’ goal is to monitor the reaction of 4-chloro-1,8-naphthalic anhydride with different primary amines using TLC, as part of a two-day project cycle, and students were required to submit a written report for summative assessment. Students generally encounter four fluorescent spots: two blue and two yellow. To evaluate the students’ overall experience in conducting this experiment over two consecutive academic years, they were asked to report on their confidence and excitement levels at both the beginning and end of the project cycle. The results showed that the majority of the students felt more confident and excited about the experiment after its completion, reporting an increase above 80% and 60% for both years, respectively.