Students choose their element after listening to the BBC Elements podcast to get some background information. I use a first come first served model where students post their chosen element in a discussion board on the class LMS (I do not allow students to double up on the element). Students write four or five of varying length on their chosen element: 0) what is their favorite science blog and why 1) why they chose the element, 2) where is this element used, 3) descriptive chemistry of the element, 4) summary of a literature article involving their element. I also require students to read their peers' blogs and comment, and sometimes take exam questions from the blogs.

I have used this project for three classes of second-year inorganic with 10-20 students. Each time I have added more scaffolding. I spend time in class discussing what makes a good science blog and how a blog is different than other types of science writing. The students then find examples of science blogs they like and write their own post on what makes them work. I have also greatly expanded the amount of time I spend on finding, reading, and summarizing literature in class. We use other literature discussion LOs that are related to course content to practice reading papers. I also spend time in class discussing different types of scientific literature and what is most appropriate for the assignment, and working on finding papers for the class. Next time I teach the class I plan to invite a librarian to help with this portion.