WINDOWS ON CHEMISTRY

Abstract

From the ACS meeting At a poster session sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in Boston, William H. Myers, professor of chemistry at the University of Richmond, in Virginia, described how computer-based modules are offering windows on chemistry for all levels of undergraduate students, facilitating self-paced learning, and maximizing the use of teachers' time. The web-based Chemistry Modules of Richmond (C-MoR) developed at the university represent an effort to help students understand the dynamic nature of chemistry, Myers told C&EN. For example, they help freshman students visualize chemical structures the way an organic chemist does. Traditionally, we have used chalk and a blackboard to sketch structures that are always two-dimensional and static. Some students can visualize the corresponding three-dimensional structures instantly, he said, but others cannot. These students will say: 'I just don't see what you are talking about.' The C...