VIPEr

Corequisites:

No Corequisites

Subdiscipline:

Learning Goals:

Faculty will

understand the "backward design" concept
learn to write learning outcomes and assessments using the verbs ("activities") and "products" provided
learn how a rubric can be used to discriminate students' levels of achievement

Implementation Notes:

These slides are a quick and dirty summary of a longer hands-on faculty development workshop I do. They provide an introduction to the Understanding by Design process, help in writing learning goals, suggestions for developing assessments of student learning, and helpful hints for preparing a VIPEr learning object.

Time Required:

15 minutes to read the slides; a lifetime to practice the skill :)

Evaluation

Evaluation Methods:

I hope that faculty will use these slides to aid their writing of learning goals and assessments for the VIPEr site.

18 Jul 2019

Science Information Literacy Badge--Reading the Literature

Submitted by Michelle Personick, Wesleyan University

Evaluation Methods:

I use this activity as a "badge," which is self-paced guided skill-building activity that students complete on their own time outside of class. Badges are designed around fundamental chemistry skills that students wouldn’t necessarily acquire from standard course content and lectures. They carry a very small point value (about 2% of the course total per badge) but my students are very motivated by even small amounts of points. I assign points primarily based on completion and effort and also provide brief written feedback for each student. I have my students turn in badges in Moodle, which makes feedback more streamlined.

Description:

This is an activity designed to introduce general chemistry students to reading the chemistry literature by familiarizing them with the structure of a published article. The activity first presents an article from the Whitesides group at Harvard about writing a scientific manuscript, along with a video about the peer-review process. There are two parts to the questions in the activity, which are based on a specific article from Nature Communications (doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08824-8). Part I is focused on the structure of the article and where to find key pieces of information. Part II encourages students to use general audience summaries in combination with the original article to best understand the science while making sure they get a complete and accurate picture of the reported work.

Topics Covered:

Chemical literature

Communication skills

Prerequisites:

Course Level:

Corequisites:

Learning Goals:

A student should be able to approach the chemistry literature and determine where to find:

the authors and their affiliations;
the main objective of the research;
the main outcomes of the research;
why the research is important;
experimental details;
supplementary figures and other information.

A student should be able to broadly evaluate the reliability of secondary summaries of scientific articles by comparing them against the key points of the original paper.

Subdiscipline:

Implementation Notes:

This activity is based on a specific article: "Room temperature CO₂ reduction to solid carbon species on liquid metals featuring atomically thin ceria interfaces" (Nat. Commun., 2019, 10, 865. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08824-8). However, it's easily adapted to other articles that are more suited to a particular course, and I've used other articles in previous iterations. This article was chosen because the content is at least partly accessible to students in my second semester general chemistry course, who have already had some electrochemistry/redox chemistry, and who have recently learned about kinetics, reaction mechanisms, and catalysis. The topic of liquid metals is new and interesting to the students, because it's not something the'd normally be exposed to, and the application to CO₂ sequestration is something they can connect with.

9 Jul 2019

Constructing a Class Acid-Base Titration Curve

Submitted by Katherine Nicole Crowder, University of Mary Washington

Evaluation Methods:

Students were allowed to keep working until they had correct pH values, so they were graded on participation. Worksheets were collected at the end in order to construct the titration curve.

This could be collected and graded for correctness.

Evaluation Results:

Students were evaluated on similar questions on the subsequent exam. Most students (12 out of 15) scored 11-13 points on a 13 point question where they had to solve for the pH in the four regions of a strong acid titration curve. 8 out of 15 recieved full credit on a question where they had to calculate the pH in the buffer region of a weak acid titration curve.

Description:

In this in-class activity, each student calculates the inital pH, equivalence volume, and pH at the equivalence point for both a strong acid-strong base and a weak acid-strong base titration.

In addition, each student is assigned a unique volume before the equivalence point and a unique volume after the equivalence point for each titration curve.

The data from the class is then assembled in Excel to construct the two titration curves.

This forces each student to do the calculations for each of the four regions of both types of titration curves. This activity could be used to introduce titration curves or to reinforce previously covered lecture material/problem-solving. It could also be switched to do a strong base-strong acid or a weak base-strong acid titration curve.

The constructed titration curves can be used for further discussions of the differences between a strong acid and a weak acid in terms of initial pH, the rapid-rise portion of the curve, and the pH at the equivalence point.

Learning Goals:

A student should be able to

determine the pH of a strong acid solution
determine the pH of a weak acid solution using Ka
use stoichiometry to calculate equivalence volumes for acid-base titrations
employ limiting reagent calculations to determine acid or base concentrations for different regions of a titration curve and determine pH
determine the pH of a weak base solution using Ka, Kb

Subdiscipline:

Bonding models: Discrete molecules

Equipment needs:

notecards with assigned volumes

computer for entering volume and pH data

Course Level:

Corequisites:

Prerequisites:

Topics Covered:

Implementation Notes:

This could be done as an in-class activity (I used a 3 hr lab period - most students took less than 2 hrs) or as a take-home assignment. Students were allowed to use their notes and textbooks. I did not strictly forbid them from working together, but I did tell them that I wanted them to be sure that they could do all of the calculations themselves.

I had an Excel spreadsheet of the correct pH values for each volume (attached). Students were allowed to come check their work with me and continue working if their answers were incorrect. I was also able to help them if they got stuck.

Attached are the student worksheets, the class titration curves, and the Excel file I used to calculate the correct pH values. I chose volumes and molarities that would give me an appropriate number of volumes before the equivalence point. Volumes and molarities should be adjusted as needed for the size of your class.

I used whole number volumes, but I think it would be better to have smaller volume increments near the rapid-rise portions of the curves so it doesn't look like the data "jumps" as much.

Time Required:

1-2 hr

9 Jun 2019

An improved method for drawing the bonding MO for dihydrogen

Submitted by Adam R. Johnson, Harvey Mudd College

Evaluation Methods:

When I do this correctly, the students don't accidentally see something which may make immature students giggle.

Evaluation Results:

I have had multiple colleagues tell me that this technique worked for them and saved them from repeating an embarassing classroom event.

Description:

Most of us have probably been there. Discussing homonuclear diatomic MO diagrams and on the first day you want to put up the sigma bonding molecular orbital for H₂. If you teach it like me, you emphasize the LCAO-MO approach, so you draw a hydrogen atom with its 1s orbital interacting with a hydrogen atom with its 1s orbital...and then you notice giggling from the less mature audience members. My technique will help to prevent this from happening. The technique is in the "faculty only" files section.

Learning Goals:

The instructor will draw the bonding MO of dihydrogen without accidentally causing laughter in the class or self embarassment.

Corequisites:

No Corequisites

Equipment needs:

chalkboard or whiteboard

ability to adjust quickly just in case

Course Level:

Prerequisites:

Topics Covered:

Communication skills

Molecular structure

Visualization

Subdiscipline:

Atomic Structure and Periodicity

Implementation Notes:

I have come close to accidentally drawing the incorrect version of this diagram and I am able to stop myself quickly as illustrated in the instructions.

Time Required:

a minute to learn, a lifetime to master.

9 Jun 2019

Principles of Chemistry II

Submitted by Michelle Personick, Wesleyan University

8 Jun 2019

VIPEr Fellows 2019 Workshop Favorites

Submitted by Barbara Reisner, James Madison University

During our first fellows workshop, the first cohort of VIPEr fellows pulled together learning objects that they've used and liked or want to try the next time they teach their inorganic courses.

Subdiscipline:

Bioinorganic Chemistry

Coordination Chemistry

Electrochemistry

Main Group Chemistry

Nanochemistry

Organometallic Chemistry

Solid State and Materials Chemistry

Spectroscopy and Structural Methods

Prerequisites:

No Prerequisites

First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry

General Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Corequisites:

No Corequisites

General Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Course Level:

First year

Second year

Upper Division

8 Jun 2019

IUPAC Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry

Submitted by Robin Macaluso, University of Texas Arlington

Description:

This is a short nomenclature guide designed to be used by students and faculty.

Subdiscipline:

Christopher Durr, Amherst College

Topics Covered:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Course Level:

6 Jun 2019

VSEPR: Flash Review

Submitted by Christopher Durr, Amherst College

Additional Authors:

Description:

This presentation is meant to be a review of applying VSEPRup to steric number 6. It's designed to be viewed as a powerpoint and printed out to keep for the student's notebook.

It can be used at multiple levels: as a review immediately after learning VSEPR in general chemistry, or as a refresher before starting upper level inorganic chemistry. The instructor could add text or voice over the slides to add more detail or leave the presentation as is for students.

If you'd like .psd or .pdf files of the drawings in these presentation, please contact me directly.

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Course Level:

Topics Covered:

Bonding models: Discrete molecules

Periodic trends

Learning Goals:

After reviewing this material students should be able to:

Draw the correct VSEPR predicted structure of a molecule based on steric number and lone pair count.

Name VSEPR structures with their appropriate geometry.

Avoid common VSEPR mistakes, particularly those with steric number 5 and 6.

Recognize how lone pairs distort bond angles from ideal geometry in molecules like ClF₃

Subdiscipline:

Atomic Structure and Periodicity

Molecular Structure and VSEPR Theory

Related activities:

Inorganic Challenge: Lewis structures and VSEPR

Implementation Notes:

I plan on uploading this flash review (along with others) to my class site before students arrive to my upper level inorganic course. I will voice over the slides, explaining the concepts, so they're ready to apply molecular orbital theory on the first day of class.

Time Required:

10 - 15 Minutes

Evaluation

Evaluation Methods:

I will compare student preparedness between this class and a previous one that did not receive a review.

Evaluation Results:

This will be updated in the future.

6 Jun 2019

Molecular Orbital Theory: Flash Review

Submitted by Christopher Durr, Amherst College

Additional Authors:

Christopher Durr, Amherst College

Description:

This presentation is meant to be a review of constructing and utilizing an MO diagram, in this case O₂. It's designed to be viewed as a powerpoint and printed out to keep for the student's notebook.

It can be used at multiple levels: as a review immediately after learning MO theory in general chemistry, or as a refresher before starting upper level inorganic chemistry. The instructure could add text or voice over the slides to add more detail or leave the presentation as is for students.

If you'd like .psd or .pdf files of the drawings in these presentation, please contact me directly.

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Course Level:

Topics Covered:

Bonding models: Discrete molecules

Molecular structure

Learning Goals:

After reviewing this material students should be able to:

Recall the shape, size and appropriate nodes of atomic orbitals.

Note the appropriate electron configuration of a given atom.

Draw molecular orbitals with the appropriate sign and node position.

Apply the Aufbau Principle to molecular orbitals to determine the ultimate spin state of a molecule.

Determine the bond order of a molecule from a completed MO diagram.

Manipulate the bond order of a molecule with Reduction/Oxidation.

Subdiscipline:

Atomic Structure and Periodicity

Molecular Orbital Diagrams

Related activities:

Build-Your-Own Molecular Orbitals

Exploring Molecular Orbitals With Spartan

Implementation Notes:

I plan on uploading this flash review (along with others) to my class site before students arrive to my upper level inorganic course. I will voice over the slides, explaining the concepts, so they're ready to apply molecular orbital theory on the first day of class.

Time Required:

10 - 15 Minutes

Evaluation

Evaluation Methods:

I will compare student preparedness between this class and a previous one that did not receive a review.

Evaluation Results:

This will be updated in the future.

2 Jun 2019

Maths for Chemists

Submitted by David Harding, Walailak University

Additional Authors:

David Harding, Walailak University

Description:

Chemistry requires mathematics in almost all areas but it is a subject many students struggle with. This short booklet introduces mathematics from basic concepts to more advanced topics. A particularly nice feature is that examples of chemistry calculations are included so that students can understand why they have learn mathematics at all. This resource comes from the Royal Society of Chemistry's Learn Chemistry website.

Prerequisites:

No Prerequisites

Topics Covered:

Corequisites:

General Chemistry

Course Level:

First year

Subdiscipline: