• Present an open ended and context rich chemistry topic for students to explore in cooperative/discovery learning modes.
• Contain activities in the module that build student interdependence during the project. Assigning different compounds or data to different groups of students so that they can discuss and interpret observations on data impossible for one group to collect or examine alone.
• Submitted modules are to have a proven record of testing with several groups of students in either intercollegiate or intracollegiate cooperative learning formats
• Contain sample laboratory reports supporting the module expectations and potential for student learning
• Present traditional topics in a context rich manner that clearly shows the relevance of the chemistry for modern scientists
• Contain all relevant content for students to learn as they step through the module. This content should be carefully linked for students so that they can make suitable progress learning the concepts ciupled to interaction with other students.
• Clear goals and objectives for the student users.
• Interactive components that students can use for learning; embedded interactivity is one of the most important components of pedagogically effective modules.
• Embedded clear directions enabling students to use the module effectively; hints on how to use any required software effectively are especially important for student users.
• Clear instructions for faculty who wish to use a module in their classes
• Sample results for faculty
• Sample data for those times when particular instruments are not available on a user campus
• Suggested questions for faculty to use in pre and post assessment of student progress in mastering the topics. These questions must be linked to the specific objectives of the module.

A module must have strong pedagogical content that ideally includes the following points:

• Shows how the subject discussed fits into the curriculum.
• Demonstrates an improved presentation of the chemistry content or facilitation of learning of that content by students.
• Contains some other clearly stated pedagogical component.
• Includes strong components focusing on students collaboration.

It must appeal to either

• A general audience (the majority of our readers).
• A clearly identifiable special audience (a specialized portion of our readers).
• Be useful to its intended audience:
• Be original (not duplicate previously published material).
• Be accurate.
• Include a bibliography appropriate for the topic especially reference to other JCE publications.

A publishable instructional module should:

• Have a pedagogical focus. It should not merely be a collection of teachers notes nor a presentation of an activity routinely found in standard laboratory texts.
• Appeal to a clearly identified audience of teachers and or students. The intended audience should be clearly identified in the instructions for instructors file that must accompany the module.
• Be accruate, complete, original, and useful to the intended audience.
• Include a thoroughly researched bibilography that will permit further study of the topic by the intended audience. It is envisioned that the primary audience will be the students of teachers who will use these materials in their courses. A secondary audience will be teachers learning new techniques or designing new modules for teaching traditional concepts. Here the power of the Web and the use of computational chemistry, symbolic mathematics software, and typical laboratory instruments is a key and a tool for improving the learning by students and moving the curriculum forward with modern methods.

• Include a useful, accurate Abstract, suitable for publication in the Journal of Chemical Education and in the Internet version of JCE. The abstract should clearly present the important concepts addressed by the module, the pediagogical approach, and suggestions of how to use the module in the curriculum. The abstract is properly given as an expanded version of the opening page of the module.
• Begin with a clear and concise Opening Page, stating significance of the module. The module should also contain clear goals and objectives for the student users. Goals are the over arching aims of the document. Objectives are the performance criteria that are expected to be met by users completing the study of the material presented in the SymMath document. Performance criteria are measureable outcomes, namely things that learners should be able to do after completing the work assigned in the module. The module should contain ample opportunity for student to develop a community online through interactions leading to resolution of the key questions posed by the module. For example, students should be directed to perform experiments where different groups have different samples to study, reflect on results contributed by the community, and reach consensus on the significance of the results and profer suggestions for improvement leading to enhanced results addressing the key question of the module.
• A good LrnComOnline module would recognize and cite recent relevant publications, especially those in JCE, and those that provide the reader with fundamental concepts related to the document.
• A good LrnComOnline module should be of a length appropriate for its content and the stated goals and objectives of the lessons and activities being addressed. It should be written in clear and proper English, at a level suitable for its intended audience, and contain hints on how to accomplish tasks that are beyond the average skill of student users.
• A good LrnComOnline module contains a carefully prepared guide for instructor. This guide should contain a good selection of facilitation questions and hints. It should also contain suggestions for motivating students, grading student achievement, and thoughts on handling problems that arose during the testing period of the module on the author's home campus.

The important components of a JCE LrnComOnline module are:

• Title
• Author and Author Affiliation
• Copyright Statement (see published documents for a typical statement)
• Author name and pagination in the first line of the footer
• A statement about the place in the Curriculum and how to use the document written to the student
• Prerequisites that would facilitate mastery of the topics and activities imbedded in the exercise
• Goal(s) of the module
• Specific objectives of the exercise(s) contained in the module
• Student warm up tasks prior to starting the major section of the module
• Student tasks frequently imbedded throughout the module; this interactivity promotes learning and maintains student interest in the tasks presented in the module
• Instructors notes on how to use the module
• Links for on the concept(s) treated by the module. These notes should be imbedded within the module so that the student user can follow the logic of the module and gain the requisit skills to succeed with the module.
• References to several standard texts in which students can find a traditional treatment of the topics of the module
• Closure activities;  students should be left with a feeling of accomplishment and completion after using the module

Prospective authors should examine recently published LrnComOnline Column modules for guidance about style and content including presentation techniques. Other good quality modules can be found at the ChemOnline Web Site

• In a separate document provide an appropriate long abstract describing the modulet and its role in the chemistry curriculum. The abstract is restricted to no more than one page in the print journal. The abstract would properly be an expanded version of the home page of the module. See published examples for guidance or contact the feature editors for guidance.
• Completed copyright form. This form can be obtained here.
• Keywords suitable for indexing the document in the Journal of Chemical Education index. Suggested key words can be found here.Be sure to include the required words for each domain in the keyword list.