| The goal of the JCE LrnComOnline feature column is to promote creation, dissemination, and utilization of well-crafted online instructional modules that span the chemistry curriculum. Online modules are multi-week projects that engage students in learning experiences that cut across traditional institutional or disciplinary boundaries. Modules are designed to foster and encourage both intercollegiate and intracollegiate collaborations—both among students and among teachers. Students working on a project constitute a virtual learning community, connected through information technology. The same applies to faculty mentors. Goals of the JCE LrnComOnline feature include enhancing subject-matter learning, improving students’ ability to collaborate effectively, fostering collaborations among faculty, encouraging research into teaching methods, and providing modular resources in an easily accessible format.
The column editors are soliciting exemplary projects in all fields of chemistry and at all levels of the curriculum. Modules must be self-contained, develop collaborative work habits among students, be multidimensional in concept, be open-ended, and support development of higher order thinking skills in students. All submissions are peer reviewed. To be accepted for publication, a submission must give evidence of successful use with students, provide detailed instructions for users, be original and meet definite instructional goals, and satisfy all requirements in the instructions for authors. Example modules that deal with physical-chemistry topics are available at the Chemistry Online Web site. (These example modules were created by PCOL, the Physical Chemistry On-Line project.)
Succinct descriptions of JCE LrnComOnline modules (such as the description for Cl2O4 in the Stratosphere; see below) appear in print in the Information, Textbooks, Media, Resources section of the Journal of Chemical Education. Such descriptions will contain the title, author information, and the URL of the module and explain the module’s scope, target audience, and place within the chemistry curriculum. These summaries are abstracted by Chemical Abstracts, providing publication credit to the author.
Prospective JCE LrnComOnline modules and summaries should be sent to the feature editors (see below). |