Jerry A. Bell

Climate Change Conversations

The thousands of presentations at next weeks meeting of The American Chemical Society (ACS) in New Orleans exemplify one of the many ways scientists converse among themselves about the most recent advances in science. Science and technology continue to reshape the world we live in, and appreciating how these changes, both intended and unintended, come about is a necessity for all citizens in a democratic society. Scientists have a responsibility to help their fellow citizens understand what science and technology can and cannot do for them.

The ACS Academic Employment Initiative. A New Avenue for Faculty Job Searching and Recruiting

Participation in the Academic Employment Initiative (AEI), a new ACS program designed to broaden the academic recruiting process, was encouragingly large and enthusiastic at the fall 2004 ACS meeting in Philadelphia. Directions for future participation in the AEI are provided.

Every Year Begins a Millennium

Every year is another year to consider experimenting with new ideas, challenges, and opportunities in our classrooms and laboratories. Many of us have learned what we think are effective teaching strategies by such experimentation. In my case, these lessons learned have included activity-based learning in many settings, emphasis on depth of understanding of basic concepts, making many connections among experiences, and adaptations to the learners. This article outlines a series of demonstrations and their contexts, that trace my pathway to learning these lessons. What I learned along the way leads to recommendations about what we teach and how we teach. Every new idea we pursue or challenge we take on has the potential to have long term consequences. Every year begins a millennium.

The Journal's 75th Anniversary:: Diamond or Fullerene?

Diamonds are usually associated with a 75th anniversary, but is a different carbon allotrope, fullerene, a more fitting symbol for the Journal? A diamond aptly describes your Journal as long lasting and multifaceted. Month after month and decade after decade readers have found the best ideas in chemical education in its pages. Whether it’s through a novel demonstration to use tomorrow, better explanations of chemical phenomena, or a provocative opinion that makes you wrestle with the way you will structure all of your teaching, every issue of your Journal is a gem that connects you with the chemical education community. Each month, this valued companion invites you to play an active role in enhancing the connections by contributing your own best ideas.

Association Reports: What is the AAAS? Why should Journal Readers Be Interested?

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), founded in 1848, is a scientific professional society that is similar to the ACS but differs in several important ways.

Content and Context: Entropy Principle Experiments in a Course for Non-Science Students.

An approach that aims to give students a feel for the concept of entropy and how to analyze natural events to see entropic control.