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Molecular modeling has trickled down from the realm
of pharmaceutical and research laboratories into the realm of
undergraduate chemistry instruction. It has opened avenues for
the visualization of chemical concepts that previously were
difficult or impossible to convey. I am sure that many of you have
developed exercises using the various molecular modeling tools. It
is the desire of this Journal to become an avenue for you to
share these exercises among your colleagues. It is to this end that
Ron Starkey has agreed to edit such a column and to publish
not only the description of such exercises, but also the software
documents they use. The WWW is the obvious medium to
distribute this combination and so accepted submissions will
appear online as a feature of JCE Internet.
Typical molecular modeling exercise: finding conformation energies.
Molecular Modeling Exercises and Experiments is the
latest feature column of JCE Internet, joining Conceptual
Questions and Challenge Problems, Hal's Picks, and Mathcad in
the Chemistry Curriculum. JCE Internet continues to seek
submissions in these areas of interest and submissions of general
interest. If you have developed materials and would like to
submit them, please see our Guide to Submissions for more information. The Chemical Education Resource Shelf, Equipment Buyers
Guide, and WWW Site Review would also like to hear
about chemistry textbooks and software, equipment, and WWW
sites, respectively. Please consult
JCE Internet Features
to learn more about these resources at JCE Online.
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Molecular Modeling Exercises and Experiments: Mission Statement
We are seeking in this JCE Internet
feature column to publish molecular modeling exercises and experiments
that have been used successfully in undergraduate instruction.
The exercises will be published here on JCE Internet. An abstract of published submissions will appear in print
in the Journal of Chemical Education.
Acceptable exercises could be used in either a
chemistry laboratory or a chemistry computer laboratory. The
exercise could cover any area of chemistry, but should be limited
to undergraduate instructional applications. We envision
that most of the exercises/experiments will utilize one of the
popular instructional molecular modeling software programs
(e.g. HyperChem, Spartan, CAChe, PC Model). Exercises that
are specific to a particular modeling program are acceptable,
but those usable with any modeling program are preferred.
Ideally the exercises/experiments will be of the type
where the "correct"answer is not obvious so that the student
must discover the solution or provide an explanation. The goal of
the exercises should not be specifically to learn molecular
modeling, but to use modeling to learn chemistry. Of course,
some concepts of modeling have to be addressed in order for the
student to effectively utilize molecular modeling
(e.g., the distinction between a local and a global energy
minimum conformation). We are looking for exercises that go beyond those
already published by the molecular modeling software distributors.
Each exercise should have a specific goal or
objective. Fairly detailed procedures for the exercise should be
included. All submissions should indicate the molecular modeling
software system (name, version, computer platform and
operating system) utilized for the exercise and the
chemistry course(s) in which the exercise has been
used. Ideally procedures and instructions should not be specific to one
particular modeling software system and/or computer platform,
but should be general so that they could apply to more than
one system. Submissions will be peer reviewed and should be
in three parts:
a. A brief abstract
b. The instructions and procedure to be used by the
student
c. Instructor notes that discuss the objective of the
exercise, the results, the selection of the
computational method(s), and potential pitfalls and
problems.
Specific guidelines for submission of exercises will be
available at the JCE Internet ModelExer site.
Feature Editor: Ronald Starkey,
Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
Phone: 920/465-2264, or 920/465-2371
Email: starkeyr@uwgb.edu
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