January,
2004
NSF Grant Enhances Technology-Based Chemistry Instruction
The Department of Chemistry recently received a National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Grant (CCLI-AI). This grant enabled the department to establish a SMART classroom with a rear-projection SMART Board and laptop computers for use by students in the classroom and chemistry lab in a wireless environment. The laptop computers are used in the SMART classroom in various capacities such as teaching students to use spreadsheets and molecular visualization software to investigate the
three-dimensional
structure of molecular systems. The laptop computers are also used in
the general chemistry laboratory to collect and analyze data related to
light emitted or absorbed, temperature, or conductance changes in reactions
under investigation.
Funds
from the CCLI grant were also used to purchase the SMART Sympodium, a new
technology-based teaching tool. This Sympodium is an interactive lectern
that allows an instructor to project and annotate electronic notes and to
generate notebook pages with electronic ink, thus eliminating the need for
a chalkboard or whiteboard. The notebook pages can be archived in a variety
of formats and made available to students via web pages or server-based
products such as Blackboard.The faculty members in the Chemistry Department are at the forefront of integrating technology and computer-based methods in chemistry instruction. As in many disciplines, reforming the nature of science instruction is on the minds of many educators. The availability and implementation of new technology-based teaching
tools
and methods will be an integral component in the reformation of chemical
education.