Inorganic Active Learning Lesson Plan Design

Submitted by Meghan Porter / Indiana University on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 09:05
Description

I created this activity as a way to get the class involved in creating new, fun ways to teach course concepts (selfishly- that part is for me) and for students to review concepts prior to the final exam (for them).  Students use a template to create a 15-20 min activity that can be used in groups during class to teach a concept we have learned during the semester.  We then randomly assign the activities and students work in groups to complete them and provide feedback.

The benefits are twofold:

Ferrocene acylation - The Covid-19 Version

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Sat, 03/21/2020 - 12:56
Description

This is the classic Chromatography of Ferrocene Derivatives experiment from "Synthesis and Technique in Inorganic Chemistry" 3rd Ed. (1986 pp 157-168) by R. J. Angelici.

Job's Method - The Covid-19 Version

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Thu, 03/19/2020 - 23:03
Description

This is the classic Job's Method experiment from "Synthesis and Technique in Inorganic Chemistry" 2nd Ed. (1977 or 1986 pp 108-114) by R. J. Angelici. There are slight changes from the experiment published in the book but they just include running solutions with ethylenediamine mole fractions of 0.67 and 0.75, so details will not be provided. What is provided are a series of pictures and videos showing the experiment being performed. Also included are the raw files of the absorbance spectra in EXCEL.

Solid State Structures tutorial

Submitted by Terrie Salupo-Bryant / Manchester University on Sat, 03/14/2020 - 12:19
Description

This tutorial will introduce students to some of the three-dimensional crystal structures exhibited by ionic and metallic solids.  They will examine the simple cubic, body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, and the hexagonal closest-packed systems.  To facilitate visualization of the structures at the atomic level, they will use the Crystal Explorer website at Purdue University.

iPad Screen Recording

Submitted by Anthony L. Fernandez / Merrimack College on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 10:46
Description

Many faculty and students now have iPads and Apple Pencils for use in their classes. At Merrimack, we have a 1:1 iPad program (called Mobile Merrimack) in which all students and faculty are provided an iPad and students are also given an Apple Pencil and a keyboard.

Formal oxidation states in Ru-catalyzed water oxidation

Submitted by Margaret Scheuermann / Western Washington University on Fri, 01/17/2020 - 16:36
Description

This LO is an in-class assignment to prepare students for literature readings involving catalytic cycles in which multiple protons and electrons are transferred. Students practice assigning oxidation states to complexes with aquo, oxo, superoxo, and hydroperoxo ligands then use this information to analyze a proposed water oxidation mechanism from the literature.

Marvin suite from ChemAxon

Submitted by Anthony L. Fernandez / Merrimack College on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 12:10
Description

It is important for students to be able to effectively communicate the results of their scientific work. This does not only inlcude written and oral communication, but the creation of appropriate representations of the complexes they have investigated. It is crucial that students learn how to draw molecules using electronic structure drawing programs, but site licenses for structure drawing programs can be prohibitive for some institutions.

How to Read a Journal Article: Analyzing Author Roles and Article Components

Submitted by Catherine McCusker / East Tennessee State University on Wed, 01/08/2020 - 21:09
Description

This literature discussion uses a recently published article on solvatochromic Mo complexes to introduce students to the different components of a research article. The activity is divied into to two parts. Before class students read the paper and focus on defining terms, investigating the "meta" data of the paper, and the different sections iof the paper. In class the students work in groups to investigate the scientific content of the paper

Visualization of Solid State Structures using CrystalMaker and Physical Models

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Wed, 01/08/2020 - 14:17
Description

This first-year laboratory is designed to give students an introduction to basic solid-state structures using both CrystalMaker files and physical models. I think this would work in a foundations level inorganic course as well. It could be used alternatively as an in-class activity or take-home problem set depending on the instructor. It was adapted by me and later, David Harvey, from an original activity that was posted as an educational resource on the CrystalMaker website in the mid 2000s.  

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