News from Journal House

JCE at ChemEd 2007

JCE staff and friends will be on hand Monday, July 30 in Denton, Texas to scoop ice cream as the Journal sponsors the ChemEd ice cream social.

Join us to beat the heat with Beth Marie’s real ice cream and all the fixings—we’ve been told it’s the best in town! Be sure to stop by the JCE and Division of Chemical Education booths in the exhibit hall. We’ll be there to sign up new subscribers and renew existing subscriptions, discuss ideas you might have for submissions, demonstrate the latest JCE: Software, tell all about our new ChemEd Digital Library, share information about the ACS Exams Institute, fill you in about the activities of the Division of Chemical Education, and more. Don’t forget to check the program listing for JCE presentations as well. Hope to see you there!

JCE Buy One, Get One Free Offer

Special Opportunity for ACS Local Sections

The Journal of Chemical Education is offering to ACS Local Sections for the first time the opportunity to “buy one, get one free.” For each subscription to JCE that a local section purchases as an award for a chemistry teacher or a chemistry student, we will provide a second, free subscription—a 50% saving—for the first year. At $45 per subscription, JCE is one of the best bargains around, and this special offer makes it even better! Act now—this offer won’t last much longer.

JCE, The Ideal Award

The Journal of Chemical Education doesn’t simply describe the stages of investigation, analysis, and communication that comprise the scientific enterprise—it makes its readers participants in the process. Can you think of a better way to recognize the achievement of outstanding students and teachers than to make them part of this process? Plaques, certificates, medals are lost or misplaced, or hung on a wall and forgotten. A subscription to the Journal of Chemical Education is a meaningful award that comes every month, will reinforce and expand the enthusiasm and inventiveness of those being honored, and—by extension—will enrich the study of chemistry for all of us.

Time Is Running Out: Act Now!

Taking advantage of this special offer is easy. Get in touch with Mary Virginia Orna, JCE Publications Coordinator (914/654-5302) for a form; fill it out and return it along with your payment and an attached list of awardees (names, mailing addresses, email addresses) at Journal of Chemical Education, Publications Coordinator, 16 Hemlock Place, New Rochelle, NY 10805. This offer expires June 30, 2007.

Scanned Issues Available—Now Back to 1945!

Good news! If you are looking for past issues of the Journal, the full text of back issues—now back to 1945!—is available at JCE Online, delivered to every subscriber at no extra cost as PDF files. What this continuing project now offers appears below. The table on the next page presents another way of locating articles in past JCE issues.

• issues of the Journal available at JCE Online start with the January 1945 issue
• the full text of articles from 1945 to the present is provided as PDF files
• browsing of issues starts with the January 1945 issue
• you can use the Past Issues link at to browse issues from 1945 to present

Back Issues Included with All Subscriptions

Back issues on JCE Online are included with your subscription with no additional charge—another good reason to subscribe to JCE today. Subscribing is as easy as pointing your WWW browser to the JCE Online Store.

Scanning and digitizing efforts continue, so expect further expansion of back issue offerings. In fact, we expect to release scanned issues between 1935 and 1944 quite soon.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

National Conference on Teaching Introductory Astronomy

Cosmos in the Classroom 2007, a national three-day, hands-on symposium on teaching astronomy to non-science majors, will be held from August 3–5, 2007 at Pomona College in Southern California. The meeting is sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, with co-sponsorship by the American Astronomical Society, JPL, and other astronomical and educational organizations.

The meeting is open to everyone who teaches astronomy, at university, college, high school, or informal settings. New instructors, part-time instructors, graduate students, and post docs are most welcome.

For updated information and to get on the mailing list for the meeting, please go to the conference Web site (accessed Feb 2007). By March 1, the organizing committee will be open to accept: abstracts for poster papers describing innovative courses, teaching techniques, or materials; proposals for 50-minute, hands-on workshops, training participants in some particular technique, approach, or educational topic.

We encourage participants to be thinking about contributions in these two areas. Some scholarships for the meeting are likely to be available. Further information is available on the above Web site.

Online Nanoscience Course

Are you interested in learning about nanoscience and how to incorporate it into your current curricula? The University of Wisconsin–Madison is offering an 8-week online course about nanoscience starting June 18, 2007. Specifically geared towards high school or middle school teachers, the course covers a variety of nanoscience topics, offers activities for use with students, and shows how to incorporate them into your curriculum. Teachers will receive two hours of graduate credit for completing the course. Here are typical teacher reactions to the course:

“I have been learning a tremendous amount from this class... The structuring of the class has been excellent with the overview, followed by the concept of nano size, properties at the nano level, and how we see atoms… I [now] feel comfortable describing a STM or AFM in lay terms... I have learned a tremendous amount and I have seen many places to include what I have learned.”

For more information contact Janice Hall Tomasik; telephone: 608/262-8647.

CHED Endowment Fund

The CHED Endowment Fund has been able to move into active mode with more than $100,000 raised and $100,000 in DivCHED matching funds received. Thus there are now sufficient funds to introduce this award program at this year’s eight regional ACS meetings. (For more information, see J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 587.

However, more donations to the Endowment are still needed. To be a part of the effort to honor great teachers and great teaching, go to the CHED Web site where you will find an announcement and a link to the online form—front and center.

POGIL Workshops: Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning in the Classroom and Laboratory

What is POGIL?

POGIL is a classroom and laboratory technique that seeks to simultaneously teach content and key process skills such as the ability to think analytically and work effectively as part of a collaborative team.

A POGIL classroom or lab consists of any number of students working in small groups on specially designed guided inquiry materials. These materials supply students with data or information followed by leading questions designed to guide them toward formulation of their own valid conclusions—essentially a recapitulation of the scientific method. The instructor serves as facilitator, observing and periodically addressing individual and classroom-wide needs.

POGIL is based on research indicating that (a) teaching by telling does not work for most students, (b) students who are part of an interactive community are more likely to be successful, and (c) knowledge is personal; students enjoy themselves more and develop greater ownership over the material when they are given an opportunity to construct their own understanding.

We have found that a discovery-based team environment energizes students and provides instructors with instant and constant feedback about what their students understand and misunderstand. Students quickly pick up the message that logical thinking and teamwork are prized above simply getting “the correct answer.” This emphasizes that learning is not a solitary task of memorizing information, but an interactive process of refining one’s understanding and developing one’s skills.

What is the POGIL Project?

The POGIL Project is a newly-funded NSF project that focuses on the national dissemination of POGIL methods and materials. There are numerous ways for interested faculty to take advantage of the project:

• Attend a 1–3 day regional or national workshop.
• Use tested and commercially available POGIL materials in your classroom, laboratory, or recitation session. (General, Organic, and Physical Chemistry materials are currently available.)
• Apply for an on-site consultation in which POGIL experts will help you adapt the POGIL approach to your unique institutional setting.
• Receive support to visit a site currently implementing a POGIL approach.
• Consult with a POGIL expert by phone, Web, or email.

More experienced practitioners may also:

• Contribute to development of new materials
• Serve as a regional POGIL consultant to provide support to new adopters

Workshops Available

POGIL will carry out a variety of workshops in different parts of the U.S. during 2007: Introductory, In-Depth, Laboratory, and Advanced. For an up-to-date schedule, go to the POGIL Web site (accessed Mar 2007) or send email.

2nd International Congress of Nanobiotechnology & Nanomedicine 2007

The International Association of Nanotechnology announces NanoBio 2007, their second international congress, to be held on June 18–20, 2007 in San Francisco. See the conference Web site (accessed Feb 2007).

Nanobiotechnology is a specialized field of nanotechnology, focusing on the improved and novel physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials at the nanoscale. Nanomedicine has potential impact on the prevention, early and reliable diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

The Second International Congress of Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine 2007 conference will feature the state-of-the-art scientific development in the emerging field of Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine. Some examples of topics are: Targeted nano delivery systems for drugs and genes; minimally invasive diagnostic methods; nano bio structural modeling; regenerative nanomedicine; nanobiological assemblies; medical imaging; bio-detection and bio-defense; nanopatterning; nano regulations and public policy; nanotoxicology and risk management; investment in nano-bio emerging companies; workforce education and training for the new nano-bio industry. Further information is available at the Web site (accessed Feb 2007).

Proposal Deadlines National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) The following NSF deadlines have been established or are anticipated. Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Preliminary Proposals: April 26, 2007 Full Proposals: October 11, 2007 Course, Curriculum and Lab Improvement (CCLI) Full Proposals, Phase 1 from submitting organizations located in states or territories    • beginning with A through M: May 8, 2007    • beginning with N through W: May 9, 2007 Full Proposals, Phase 2 and 3: January 10, 2008 Discovery Research K–12 (DR-K12) Preliminary and Full Proposal dates vary depending on focus; see NSF EHR Web site for details Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities (EPS) Full Proposals: accepted any time Informal Science Education (ISE) Full Proposals: June 21, 2007 Preliminary Proposals: September 13, 2007 Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) Full Proposals (by invitation only): October 5, 2007 Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) annually on the fourth Thursday in January NSF Scholarship in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (S-STEM) Letters of Intent: October 10, 2007 Full Proposals: November 13, 2007 Official deadline dates for proposals will be specified in the new program solicitation for each program, to be published at least three months before the relevant deadline date. Consult NSF Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education for the most up-to-date listings and guidelines; phone: 703/292-8670; email. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: January 9, 2008 Faculty Start-Up Award Program: May 10, 2007 Henry Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: June 28, 2007 New Faculty Awards Program: May 10, 2007 Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: May 24, 2007 Senior Scientist Mentor Program: Completed Proposals: October 4, 2007 Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Preliminary Proposals: June 7, 2007 Completed Proposals: August 23, 2007 Further information and confirmation of the above deadlines may be obtained from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, Suite 1305, New York, NY 10022-3301; phone: 212/753-1760; email. Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15 Cottrell Scholar Awards: September 1 Research Innovation Awards: suspended 2004-2007 Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1 Special Opportunities in Science Awards: suspended 2006-2008. Further information may be obtained from Research Corporation, 4703 East Camp Lowell Drive, Suite 201, Tucson, AZ 85712; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119; email.