CONFCHEM
Conferences on Chemistry

organized by the DivCHED CCCE
Welcome to CONFCHEM

Web-Based Applications for Chemical Education: Experiences and Visions

An on-line conference, beginning May 5, 2006

Abstracts

Schedule of Papers

 

Current Session

Instructions

Discussion Archives: May June July

 

 

Conference Organizers:

 
Robert E. Belford 
Department of Chemistry 
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
rebelford@ualr.edu  
501-569-8824 

 

 

Robert M. Hanson 
Department of Chemistry                     
St. Olaf College   
1520 St. Olaf Ave.
Northfield, MN 55057                        
hansonr@stolaf.edu 
507-646-3107              

 

 

Introduction

 

Web-based applications have had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on chemical education.  This online conference will bring together a variety of presentations representing recent work in this important field of chemical education. 

 

 

Schedule of Papers   

 

This CONFCHEM has concluded. skip to the current session

 

Note: When you send a message to the conference list regarding a paper, please put "CONFCHEM" and the paper identifier, 1A, 1B, etc., at the BEGINNING of the subject line so that it appears like this:

 

  To: confchem@clarkson.edu

  Subject: CONFCHEM 1A . . .

 

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Session 1:  May 5 - May 11

1A

  abstract


  paper

archive

Are chemistry instructors and students ready for an internet-based text? Mark Bishop (Monterey Peninsula College)

discuss this paper

 

1B

  abstract

      
  paper

 

  wiki

          archive

Progress towards a holistic web: integrating open-source programs, semantic data, wikis and podcasts, Henry Rzepa (Imperial College London) and Marion Cass (Carleton College)

discuss this paper

 

Session 2:  May 12 - May 18

2A

  abstract

    
paper

  paper      
paper

          archive

JSpecView: Developing spectroscopic representations on the web,  Robert John Lancashire (University of West Indies, Mona)

discuss this paper

 

2B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper   
paper

 archive

Jmol: Open-source molecular visualization and analysis, Robert M. Hanson (St. Olaf College), Egon Willighagen (Cologne University Bioinformatics Center), Nicolas Vervelle, Timothy Driscoll (molvisions), and Miguel Howard (Jmol Project)

discuss this paper

 

Session 3: May 19 - May 25

3A

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

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ChemPrep: Self-paced OWL preparation for first semester general and organic chemistry,  Beatrice Botch, Roberta Day, William Vining, Stephen Hixson, Peter Samal, Barbara Stewart, David Hart (University of Massachusetts, Amherst),  Kenneth Rath, Alan Peterfreund (Peterfreund Associates)

discuss this paper

 

3B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

         archive

BestChoice, a model for interactive web-based teaching, Sheila Woodgate and David Titheridge (University of Auckland)

discuss this paper  

 

Session 4: May 26 -June 1

4A

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

Creation of an online stoichiometry course that melds scenario based leaning with virtual labs and problem-solving tutors, David Yaron, Jordi Cuadros, Mike Karabinos (Carnegie Mellon University)

discuss this paper

 

4B

  abstract

    
paper

  paper      
paper

     
paper

          archive

JChemPaint viewer and editor applets: Interactive 2D molecular diagrams, Stefan Kuhn, Tobias Helmus, Egon Willighagen and Christoph Steinbeck (Cologne University Bioinformatics Center)

discuss this paper

 

Session 5:  June 2 – June 8

5A

  abstract

     
paper

  slides (PPT)

  slides (PDF)

    
paper

          archive

Using InterChemNet for lab curriculum development and evaluation,  Barbara Stewart, Robert Kirk, Francois Amar, and Mitchell Bruce; (University of Maine)

discuss this paper

 

5B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

  wiki

 

The Science of Spectroscopy: Collaborative curriculum development using a wiki, Stewart Mader (Brown University)

discuss this paper

 

Session 6: June 9 – June 15 

6A

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

Tools for performing organic reaction mechanisms over the web, John Penn (West Virginia University), John H. Penn Department of Chemistry West Virginia University Morgantown, WV ...
Click to expand. Christoph Steinbeck (Cologne University) and Ada Casares (Richard Stockton College)

discuss this paper

 

6B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

The Green Chemistry Assistant: a new concept in web applications, Robert M. Hanson (St. Olaf College)

discuss this paper

 

Session 7: June 16 - June 22

7A

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

WebMO: Web-based, state-of-the-art, and cost-effective computational chemistry, William F. Polik and Jordan R. Schmidt (Hope College)

discuss this paper

 

7B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

GEMs for chemists: a community-based approach to develop greener education materials, Julie Haack (University of Oregon) and Irvin Levy (Gordon College)

discuss this paper

 

Session 8: June 23 - June 29

8A

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

Improving safety comprehension through hypertext: the MSDS HyperGlossary, Robert Toreki (Interactive Learning Paradigms, Inc.) and Robert E. Belford (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

discuss this paper

 

8B

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

Teaching chemistry with Moodle, Fred Senese (Frostburg State University)

discuss this paper  

 

8C

  abstract

     
paper

  paper      
paper

    
paper

          archive

Expanding the role of the organic chemistry teacher through podcasting, screencasting, blogs, wikis and games, Jean-Claude Bradley (Drexel University)

discuss this paper

 

June 30 - Final Discussion



 

 

Abstracts

              

CONFCHEM 1A

Are chemistry instructors and students ready for an internet-based text?

Mark Bishop (Monterey Peninsula College)

With computers, relatively inexpensive software, the Internet, and print on demand printing, it seems that anyone can now consider writing and self-publishing their own internet-based textbook. This paper addresses the issues related to this task. The following questions are presented, possible answers are suggested, and requests are made for answers from CONFCHEM participants. Is it possible for one person or a small group of people to create a quality chemistry text and supplemental materials without the support of the established academic publishing industry? Can chemical educators be convinced that a text that is not distributed by a known publishing house can be of high enough quality to consider adopting for their classes? If there is some resistance to new approaches to delivering information, what factors might counter-balance the concerns? What's the best way for self-published material to be reviewed? Are students ready to get more information from computer-based sources? What percentage of students would want a hard copy of an internet-based text? Would they be content with a black-and-white version, assuming that they have access to the color version on the Internet? How will authors be compensated for their work? What's the best way to advertise self-published material? See http://preparatorychemistry.com/Bishop_conference.htm.

 

CONFCHEM 1B

Progress towards a holistic web: integrating open-source programs, semantic data, wikis and podcasts

Henry Rzepa (Imperial College London) and Marion Cass (Carleton College)

 

The way educators typically use the Web to support their teaching in 2006 is arguably a regression from many of the ideals first anticipated in 1994. Time pressure, a reluctance to learn "difficult HTML", and pressure from the publishing industry has allowed the Web to retreat into "shrink-wrapped" black holes known as Acrobat files. An ever greater reluctance (by both authors and publishers) to appreciate the importance of deploying meta-data in a meaningful manner means that most often, these Acrobat files represent the bones lying in an information graveyard, stripped of any "reusability" and really fit only for printing (e-books have yet to take off in any significant sense). In our article (we hesitate to perpetuate the above by calling it a "paper"!) we discuss two particular themes. Firstly, how a greater emphasis on data capture and its re-usability, together with the use of open-source software such as the remarkable Jmol, can result in a much more meaningful and future-proofed way of presenting chemical knowledge to students. We illustrate this via two resources, one designed to introduce symmetry to chemistry students, the other a dynamical introduction to pseudorotation in fluxional molecules. These can be viewed at http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/symmetry/  and http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/bpr/.. Secondly, we address the issue of how to create holistic resources and to overcome the reluctance of stressed and pressured academics by discussing two recent phenomena, that of the "Wiki" and the "Podcast". The Wikipedia is perhaps the best known illustration of how a community can coalesce and produce something far greater than the sum of its parts. Podcasting, which seems to be taking off in chemistry, focuses on audio and video content, but seems divorced from other forms of content, and is currently rather less than holistic. Currently, these two broad themes about how the Web should evolve are more or less developing independently. The prospects of coalescence are discussed.

 

CONFCHEM 2A

JSpecView: Developing spectroscopic representations on the web

Robert John Lancashire (University of West Indies, Mona)

 

In 1997, we began collaboration with MDL Information Systems Ltd and incorporated our spectroscopy (JCAMP-DX) viewer code into MDL Chime. By 2005, when the contract ended, MDL had had over 2 million downloads of the free version of the browser plug-in.

In 2006, we followed up with the release of JSpecView (http://jspecview.sourceforge.net), a JAVA based spectroscopy viewer, which can be run as an applet from a web page or as a standalone application. There are several expected uses of JSpecView, and in this presentation I will demonstrate examples where the applet can be used in a teaching environment for the interpretation of IR, MS and NMR spectra, delivery of spectral unknowns and in a laboratory setting in combination with Jmol and another JAVA applet for characterisation of visible spectra with Tanabe-Sugano diagrams.

 

 

CONFCHEM 2B

Jmol: Open-source molecular visualization and analysis

Robert M. Hanson (St. Olaf College), Egon Willighagen (Cologne University Bioinformatics Center), Nicolas Vervelle, Timothy Driscoll (molvisions), and Miguel Howard (Jmol Project)

 

Jmol (http://www.jmol.org) is free software for displaying interactive 3D molecules. It is designed as a component that can be used as a standalone application, as an applet within the context of a web page, or as a display subsystem within a more sophisticated software package. Because it is written in Java and requires no special graphics hardware, Jmol runs on all major operating systems and web browsers. Jmol has been developed as a collaborative project using standard open-source software development methodologies and procedures. All source code is publicly available under the GNU licenses, facilitating experimentation, testing, public contributions, and peer review. Rendering representations can be controlled using an extended version of the RasMol scripting language. The Jmol applet allows web content developers to display interactive 3D representations of molecules within web pages, providing an upgrade path for users of the Chime web browser plugin. New capabilities are being added to Jmol on an ongoing basis. As Jmol has matured over the past few years, it has become an increasingly popular component in computer based molecular visualization. We expect Jmol's popularity to continue to grow as we continue to build into it additional new features, many of which will be demonstrated in this presentation.

 

 

CONFCHEM 3A

ChemPrep: Self-paced OWL preparation for first semester general and organic chemistry

Beatrice Botch, Roberta Day, William Vining, Stephen Hixson, Peter Samal, Barbara Stewart, David Hart (University of Massachusetts, Amherst),  Kenneth Rath, Alan Peterfreund (Peterfreund Associates)

 

Two self-paced chemistry courses were written to help improve student preparedness for first semester General and Organic Chemistry. These courses are delivered over the web using the OWL (Online Web-based Learning) system developed at the University of Massachusetts. They are designed to take ten to twenty hours to complete and are offered prior to the start of the semester. ChemPrep/General covers topics such as matter, algebra, significant figures, nomenclature and dimensional analysis. ChemPrep/Organic covers concepts such as Lewis structures, formal charge, geometry, hybridization and acid/base theory. Evaluation studies of the Spring 04 and Fall 04 semesters show that for those students who completed more than half of the ChemPrep units, course grades and retention rates in the subsequent chemistry courses were higher. The content, implementation, and evaluation of the ChemPrep courses will be discussed.

 

 

CONFCHEM 3B

BestChoice, a model for interactive web-based teaching

Sheila Woodgate and David Titheridge (University of Auckland)

 

The BestChoice online tutorial system designed by the authors has been used since 2002 in New Zealand to support both first-year university students and high school students in their learning of chemistry (4000 active users in 2005).  80 modules with content appropriate to the above cohorts have been written.  In total there are 2500 screen views and 6000 possibilities for interaction generating feedback available.  A selection of these can be viewed at www.bestchoice.che.auckland.ac.nz by clicking on the DEMO MODE link.

The primary focus of BestChoice modules is interactive teaching using a programmed learning approach. We have made major strides in developing methods to simulate on screen pen-and-paper solutions to multistep problems.  The paper will describe

  • factors taken into account in the design and implementation of BestChoice
  • our experience incorporating use of BestChoice into first year university and high school courses
  • how evaluation by over 8000 users has provided validation of the approach taken in BestChoice modules as well as useful insights for future work

 

 

CONFCHEM 4A

Creation of an online stoichiometry course that melds scenario based leaning with virtual labs and problem-solving tutors

David Yaron, Jordi Cuadros, Mike Karabinos (Carnegie Mellon University)

This paper will discuss an online review course in stoichiometry aimed at students who are about to enter college chemistry and need a review of this important foundation material. The course uses the ChemCollective's virtual lab (http://www.chemcollective.org/) and the course delivery and problem solving tutor tools of Carnegie Mellon's Online Learning Initiative (http://www.cmu.edu/oli/). The course is set in the context of arsenic contamination in the groundwater of Bangladesh. This scenario highlights the utility of stoichiometry concepts in a real world problem and allows us to, as the course progresses, shift the theme to the challenges facing modern analytical chemistry. The course contains 15 modules ranging from the mole and molecular weight up through reaction stoichiometry, empirical formula and limiting reagents. Modules typically start with a video explaining the concepts followed by a few simple tutors that serve as interactive worked examples and then either a virtual lab or more extensive problem solving tutor. Our experiences with creating and evaluating this course will be discussed.

 

 

CONFCHEM 4B

JChemPaint viewer and editor applets: Interactive 2D molecular diagrams

Stefan Kuhn, Tobias Helmus, Egon Willighagen and Christoph Steinbeck (Cologne University Bioinformatics Center)

 

JChemPaint (http://almost.cubic.uni-koeln.de/jrg/software/jchempaint/) is an open-source 2D structure editor for which recently two applet versions have been developed. One is a smaller viewer-only applet; the other is a larger editor applet. Based on the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK), the applet is quite rich in features, including 2D rendering of molecules and reactions, popup labels on atoms, structure diagram generation (diagram cleanup), optional use of templates, input/output capability including Chemical Markup Language (CML), SMILES, MDL molfile and many others, undo/redo capability, and much more. An installation of the editor applet is available on http://www.chemistry-development-kit.org/. The NMRShiftdb application (http://www.nmrshiftdb.org/) uses both the editor and the viewer applets. Being open-source, the JChemPaint applet can be customized for specific educational applications. Application scenarios in education as well as access information for interested users and potential contributors will be provided.

 

 

CONFCHEM 5A

Using InterChemNet for lab curriculum development and evaluation

Barbara Stewart, Robert Kirk, Francois Amar, and Mitchell Bruce; (University of Maine)

 

InterChemNet (ICN, http://icn2.umeche.maine.edu/newnav/NewNavigator/LoginForm.cfm) is a web-based laboratory management and curriculum delivery system that incorporates spectroscopic instrumentation, student choice, and assessment of student learning. Data from studies evaluating spectroscopy curriculum modules in terms of assessment of student learning are presented. We discuss the use of ICN as a tool for action research in the laboratory setting, focusing on two modalities that can be facilitated with this technology: parallel curriculum improvement cycles and multi-campus assessment.

 

 

CONFCHEM 5B

The Science of Spectroscopy: Collaborative curriculum development using a wiki,

Stewart Mader (Brown University)

 

A wiki can be thought of as a combination of a web site and a Word document. At its simplest, it can be read just like any other web site, with no access privileges necessary, but its real power lies in the fact that groups can collaboratively work on the content of the site using nothing but a standard web browser. The wiki is gaining traction in education, as an ideal tool for the increasing amount of collaborative work done by both students and teachers. Students might use a wiki to collaborate on a group report, compile data or share the results of their research, while faculty might use the wiki to collaboratively author the structure and curriculum of a course, and the wiki can then serve as part of each person's course materials. Recently I've converted The Science of Spectroscopy, a well-known educational web site (http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info), into a wiki so that the growing number of readers can now become writers and collaboratively build a richer and more useful tool. I'll demo the site, give a brief online tutorial on how to edit it, and provide any CONFCHEM participant an account to edit the wiki.
 

 

CONFCHEM 6A

Tools for performing organic reaction mechanisms over the web

John Penn (West Virginia University), John H. Penn Department of Chemistry West Virginia University Morgantown, WV ...
Click to expand. Christoph Steinbeck (Cologne University) and Ada Casares (Richard Stockton College)

 

Web-based instructional methods have shown constant advancements in recent years. In the world of organic chemistry, online structure drawing has become possible through a variety of applets and 3-D visualization techniques are beginning to become highly commonplace. The next mountain to be climbed is that of drawing organic reaction mechanisms, and then to have the computer evaluate its correctness. This contribution will focus on the progress towards that goal and the various techniques that might be used to help students draw and to understand reaction mechanisms.

  

CONFCHEM 6B

The Green Chemistry Assistant: a new concept in web applications

Robert M. Hanson (St. Olaf College)

 

The Green Chemistry Assistant (GCA), http://fusion.stolaf.edu/gca, is a collaborative project between St. Olaf College and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that allows analysis of chemical equations, reactions, and processes in terms of green chemistry, safety, and chemical hazards. Geared toward a broad range of users, the site focuses on single- or multi-step processes for which the balanced chemical equations are known. Concepts such as atom economy, theoretical yield, experimental atom economy, process mass efficiency, and E-factor are explained and are calculated based on balanced chemical equations and experimental quantities introduced by users. In this paper, I will describe the capabilities of this "web application" (as opposed to a simple "web page" or "web site"), how we are using it at the undergraduate organic chemistry level, some of the surprises we have had both in terms of student capabilities and in terms of faculty expectations, and what it offers to the wider green chemistry community.

  

CONFCHEM 7A

WebMO: Web-based, state-of-the-art, and cost-effective computational chemistry

William F. Polik and Jordan R. Schmidt, (Hope College)

 

WebMO (www.webmo.net) is a free web-based interface to popular computational chemistry programs. WebMO permits users to build 3-D molecular structures, submit multiple jobs, monitor job progress, and view text and graphical results, all from within a standard web-browser. WebMO overcomes the resource and accessibility challenges associated with traditional GUI interfaces since it is installed on a single server, requires no installation on student computers, and is available anywhere on the internet. WebMO is simple enough for undergraduate computational chemistry courses and flexible enough for computational chemistry research.

  

CONFCHEM 7B

GEMs for chemists: a community-based approach to develop greener education materials

Julie Haack (University of Oregon) and Irvin Levy (Gordon College)

 

Green Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Often referred to as a form of molecular- level pollution prevention, the incorporation of green chemistry principles into the chemistry curriculum is providing new opportunities to enhance the curriculum and engage a broader spectrum of students in the study of chemistry. A key to gaining broad adoption of a greener chemistry curriculum and sustaining the development of new educational materials is to actively involve faculty from across the country in creating these materials. This paper will describe how the development and dissemination of the GEMs database (http://greenchem.uoregon.edu/gems.html) has facilitated a unique, community-based approach to educational materials development that has the potential to both catalyze an exponential increase in the number of faculty involved with and exposed to the green curriculum and provide a diverse and continuously evolving collection of educational materials. GEMs is an interactive, web-based database of Greener Education Materials for Chemists. The database is designed to be a comprehensive resource of educational materials including laboratory exercises, lecture materials, course syllabi and multimedia content that illustrate chemical concepts important for green chemistry.

  

CONFCHEM 8A

Improving safety comprehension through hypertext: the MSDS HyperGlossary

Robert Toreki (Interactive Learning Paradigms, Inc.) and Robert E. Belford (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

 

Laboratory safety training in many academic programs is restricted to a short introduction to laboratory rules and safety equipment on the first day of laboratory work. Very often, there are few additional safety resources beyond a Chemical Hygiene Plan binder or a generic safety handout. Student comprehension and respect for safety suffers as a result. This presentation will explore how the application of rather simple techniques can inculcate the "culture of safety" that students need to work safely and proceed professionally.

This presentation will explore the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) HyperGlossary (MSHG, http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/), a free online resource that discusses well over 500 terms typically found on MSDS's and other laboratory health and safety documents. Each entry in the MSHG offers a concise definition of the term(s), the specific relevance to MSDS's, additional information that users of all backgrounds can easily comprehend, and authoritative external links for further information.

The crown jewel of this resource is the MS-Desmystifer, an online web form that can take user-pasted text or HTML and convert it to a web-enhanced version containing hyperlinks to the appropriate topic(s) in the MSHG. Thus, a student reading an MSDS, lab assignment, or course handout no longer has to skip over an obtuse term - instead, they are one click away from comprehension and further information. Discussion will include examples from current courses that are utilizing this approach.


 

CONFCHEM 8B

Teaching chemistry with Moodle

Fred Senese (Frostburg State University)

Moodle (http://www.moodle.org) is a free, open-source course management system that emphasizes community building, critical reflection, and collaborative work. It provides a powerful array of tools not found in many commercial course management systems. It includes facilities for web publishing, equation typesetting, content management, adaptive prelabs and lessons, parameterized and hierarchical homework banks, Flash and SCORM learning objects, assessment, detailed student tracking, and record-keeping. Moodle is under active development, and is supported by a large community of system administrators, teachers, researchers, instructional designers and developers. Being open source, the code can easily be modified to suit specific needs, and Moodle can run on any server capable of running PHP and MySQL.

Moodle has been used to teach chemistry at all levels of the curriculum at
Frostburg State University for the last two years. In this paper, I'll outline the tools and features of Moodle, and demonstrate their application in our general chemistry, physical chemistry, and environmental chemical analysis courses. I'll also discuss the impact that Moodle has had on classroom dynamics and pedagogy in laboratory, lecture, and workshop settings.

 

 

CONFCHEM 8C

Expanding the role of the organic chemistry teacher through podcasting, screencasting, blogs, wikis and games

Jean-Claude Bradley (Drexel University)

 

Technology is enabling new ways to channel the relationship between teacher and student. The ability to provide an archive of recorded lectures in rich and convenient formats like screencasts, podcasts and vodcasts enable an instructor to explore additional means to integrate class material through activities such as games, blogs and conversation. This presentation will describe the implementation of such technologies in a university level organic chemistry class. See http://chem241.wikispaces.com.

 

 

 

Brief Instructions

There is no registration fee for this on-line conference. On-Line discussion will occur via the CONFCHEM Majordomo e-mail list. To subscribe to the CONFCHEM Majordomo, send the following command:

      SUBSCRIBE  CONFCHEM  your-name  <your e-mail address>

in the body of an e-mail message to MAJORDOMO@CLARKSON.EDU.

Note that your e-mail address must be bracketed by < and >. You will receive a confirmation email with more instructions. Other instructions, such as unsubscribing from the list, are on the subscribing page.

·                For further details about this symposium contact the organizers listed above.

·                For CONFCHEM Majordomo problems contact Bob Belford (rebelford@ualr.edu).

·                For problems with the CONFCHEM webpages contact Brian Tissue (tissue@vt.edu).

·                For more information about CONFCHEM see the home page: http://www.ched-ccce.org/confchem/.


CONFCHEM on-line conferences are organized by the ACS Division of Chemical Education's Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE).