VIPEr

Course Level:

Professional skills development

Topics Covered:

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.

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:

Bonding models: Discrete molecules

Equipment needs:

chalkboard or whiteboard

ability to adjust quickly just in case

Course Level:

Prerequisites:

Topics Covered:

Communication skills

Molecular structure

Professional skills development

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:

First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry

General Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Corequisites:

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

General Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Course Level:

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:

Professional skills development

Topics Covered:

Corequisites:

General Chemistry

Course Level:

Subdiscipline:

Web Resources:

Maths for Chemists

31 May 2019

Helping Students with Visual Impairments See Colors

Submitted by Douglas Balmer, Warwick High School

Evaluation Methods:

Do these students identify the same colors as the students without visual impairments?

Are their lab results correct?

Evaluation Results:

Students were able to accurately describe colors.

Description:

I have had some students in class have a hard time identifying colors (flame tests, solution color, acid-base indicators, etc.) because of a visual impairment. There are many cell-phone apps that are helpful in aiding these students. "Pixel Picker" allows the students to load a picture from a device (cell phone, ipad). This is helpful because students are now dealing with a "frozen" image. Moving the cross-hair to different parts of the picture changes the R-G-B values. The "Color Blind Pal" app uses a more qualitative approach. It names the color in the cross-hair using various color scales. There are also different options for different types of color blindness.

Both of these apps are free and availble in the App Store.

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Physical methods / analytical techniques

Topics Covered:

Acid-base chemistry

Descriptive chemistry

Electronic spectroscopy

Physical properties

Visualization

Course Level:

Learning Goals:

A student should be able to correctly identify an unknown metal by the color of its flame.

A student should be able to correctly identify the endpoint in a titration by the indicator's color change.

A student should be able to correctly describe the physical properties (color) of a sample.

A student should be able to correctly predict the visible absorbance spectrum of a solution based on correctly identifying the color of the solution.

Subdiscipline:

Spectroscopy and Structural Methods

Related activities:

The Structure and Color of Alums

cis- and trans-[Co(en)2Cl2]+ colors

ColourLex - a colorful website!

The Color and Electronic Configurations of Prussian Blue

Implementation Notes:

Have the students with visual impairments practice using the app ahead of time to better prepare them to use the app for the first time in class/lab. Students would also need to understand the additive nature of light colors. For example, high R and G values will appear yellow/orange. I would give these students a 1-page handout for their lab notebook with the addative color wheel and various colored circles labeled with their names and RGB values so that students could practice and reference in the lab.

Our lab safety contract actually has students indicate whether they are color blind. This is a good time to introduce these students to the apps.

Time Required:

15 min

23 May 2019

Teaching Computational Chemistry

Submitted by Joanne Stewart, Hope College

This is a series of in-class exercises used to teach computational chemistry. The exercises have been updated and adapted, with permission, from the Shodor CCCE exercises (http://www.computationalscience.org/ccce). The directions provided in the student handouts use the WebMO interface for drawing structures and visualizing results. WebMO is a free web-based interface to computational chemistry packages (www.webmo.net).

Subdiscipline: