by Ratul Biswas and Moumita Koley
Original Research
Synthesis of cis and trans isomers of bis(glycinato)copper (II) monohydrate is a standard experiment performed in undergraduate curriculum. Awareness on green chemistry on the other hand is also another important topic for undergraduate students. The aim of this paper is to introduce these two important aspects through a unified protocol, which was executed by an undergraduate student as summer project. The focus of this study is to present the results of the evaluation of greenness of the synthetic routes traditionally used for the synthesis of cis/trans copper gycinato complexes at undergraduate labs. The evaluation tables should help the educators to present an overview of greenness of different preparative methodologies before the students. Each of the two geometrical isomers had been prepared via two different routes available in literatures. The greenness had been assessed in accordance with the 12 principles of Green Chemistry formulated by Paul Anastas and John Warner. A tabular form of the Green Chemistry Mass Metrices is presented along with and other holistic graphic metrics such as the Green Star and the Green Circle, the latter being based on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. Further, SWOT tables (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) have been included to expose the upshots and drawbacks of the different synthetic routes.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 185-192. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-8
Pub. Date: November 10, 2017
19542 Views6631 Downloads
by Cao Cu Giac, Tran Thi Gai and Phan Thi Thanh Hoi
Original Research
Experiential learning is the ultimate way to match learning with the practical application, consisting of gaining knowledge and development of skills at the same time. The article analyzes the nature and role of experiential learning activities in teaching. The experiential learning model of David Kolb is the theoretical foundation for the design and organization for the experiential learning activities that contributes to the proactivity in learning activities for students through 4 stages: (i) concrete experience, (ii) reflective observation, (iii) abstract conceptualization, and (iv) active experimentation. In this article, we introduce the experiential learning activities model that supports learners to apply theoretical knowledge into practice, as well as demonstrating these activities in the case study of teaching the topic “Mineral Nutrition” in teaching “Science” in the general education curriculum of Vietnam.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 180-184. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-7
Pub. Date: October 27, 2017
15726 Views2959 Downloads
by P.T. Huong and C.T.H. Linh
Original Research
This article explores the issue of evaluation in today's education, with particular emphasis on assessing learner competencies. The rubric building steps will be presented to assess the pedagogical students' teaching capacity with five steps: (1) Define the criteria for the preparation of lesson planning; (2) Define indicator of criteria; (3) Describe the level of the indicators; (4) assign points to indicator levels; (5) Find evidence for the criteria; (6) Perform evaluation. From that process, the paper described planning capacity with four criteria: Understanding students, Understanding curriculum, Understanding facilities, teaching aids, Understand the socio-economic and natural characteristics of locality. The criterion of Understanding students includes 3 indicators: Understanding the knowledge base of students’ subjects, Determine interest in learning Chemistry and Biology, Identifying learning styles of Chemistry and Biology. Understanding curriculum includes 2 indicators: Define goals, orientation methods, means and forms, teaching content of lessons during pedagogy practice, Identify teaching plan of the lessons during pedagogy practice. The criterion of Understanding facilities, teaching aids includes 2 indicators: Understanding facilities - teaching aids, Develop plans to use, purchase or make the lacking teaching aids. Understand the socio-economic and natural characteristics of locality includes 2 indicators: Only the socio-economic and natural characteristics of locality related to the content of teaching Biology, Integrate the socio-economic and natural characteristics of locality in teaching Chemistry and Biology. Each indicator is described in three levels: Level 1: Fail; level 2: standard and level 3: Good. Criteria are considered as a useful tool for assessing the teaching capacity of pedagogical students before they attend school teaching.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 175-179. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-6
Pub. Date: October 27, 2017
9145 Views2665 Downloads1 Likes
by C.C. Giac, L.H. Hoang, N.T.P. Lien and P.H. Thanh
Original Research
This study has represented a model of experimental exercises in teaching chemistry. The model, which is the type of exercise associated with chemistry laboratories that when students answer them, they have to get the basic skills of practice chemistry. By analyzing the model of experimental exercises, we have proposed two underpinnings to design these exercises. On that basic, we proposed the way to design new experimental exercises. These methods are analyzed in detail and there are the attached application so that teacher can apply to design the same cases. Based on the proposed methods, we have designed sample exercises used in high school chemistry teaching. The exercises were solved clearly and evaluation of chemistry practical skills for students. This type of exercises is always attractive to create certain excitements for teachers and students in the teaching and learning chemistry in high school.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 168-174. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-5
Pub. Date: October 27, 2017
10926 Views2892 Downloads2 Likes
by Ho Dung Manh, Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong and Cao Van Du
Original Research
There has been an impressive growth of open online course in recent years. However, the number of free organic chemistry courses is limited. To create an organic chemistry course online, we need a tool that can draw chemical structure and can be embedded into the web. We found that JSME Molecular Editor was a free and easy-to-use computer program for creating chemistry online course. We have developed interactive web-based organic nomenclature exercises by integrating JSME Molecular Editor into the website http://www.ihoahoc.com/nomenclature/Enomenclature.html. The three types of exercise were created: (i) students are given structure of an organic compound, then they have to identify a specific functional group inside this structure (ii) students are given the IUPAC name of an organic compound, then they have to draw structure of this compound (iii) students are given structures of an organic compound, then they have to write the IUPAC name of this compound. These exercises have been used for first year students at Faculty of Pharmacy, Lac Hong university, Vietnam.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 164-167. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-4
Pub. Date: October 27, 2017
12841 Views3381 Downloads1 Likes
by Daniel Rauber, Michael Conrad, Johannes Huwer, Harald Natter and Rolf Hempelmann
Original Research
A more sustainable, greener chemistry aiming at the utilization of renewable resources is a main research focus to reduce human environmental impact. Unfortunately, there is a lack of powerful, environmentally benign solvents for the two most abundant renewable biopolymers, cellulose and lignin. Ionic liquids are here introduced to undergraduate chemistry laboratories as recyclable, tunable solvents for the dissolution and processing of biomass in the form of wood and its components to create alternative processes that are safer as well as waste- and additive-free. These experiments emphasize the principles of green chemistry and demonstrate the scope and potential of ionic liquids for the production of novel, biodegradable materials from renewable resources.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 158-163. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-3
Pub. Date: October 07, 2017
14015 Views3839 Downloads
by Mariana Ingold, Lucia Colella, Rosina Dapueto, Gloria. V. López and Williams Porcal
Original Research
Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are a green strategy in which a collection of molecules with a great diversity are generated with a minimum of synthetic effort, time and by-products formation. The Ugi Multi-component reaction is a chemical reaction in which an aldehyde, an amine, a carboxylic acid and an isocyanide react to form a α-bisamide. In this work, we use the Ugi reaction, as an example of MCRs, to approach organic chemistry undergraduate students to sustainable reactions. This reaction can be carried out under on-water or solvent-free conditions, both at room temperature as in combination with microwave irradiation or ultrasound. The advantages and limitations of the usage of Ugi reaction, under these conditions, in an organic chemistry laboratory course are discussed. In this context, we used different parameters to calculate how environmentally friendly the assayed conditions are. The Chemical Manufacturing Methods for the 21st Century Pharmaceutical Industries (CHEM21 project) were used with this objective. The present work could contribute to the teaching of ecofriendly synthetic strategies, demonstrating the scientific and academic benefits of green chemistry.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 153-157. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-2
Pub. Date: August 28, 2017
13274 Views3326 Downloads
by Carmen Palacios, Maria L. F. Salatino and Antonio Salatino
Original Research
An inexpensive TLC method is proposed for quantification of caffeine in food and beverage commercial products. The extraction is carried out with dichloromethane and the residue is analyzed by thin layer chromatography. The chromatograms are sprayed with a reagent containing iodine for visualization and the area of the spots is determined by freely available software. A good correlation was observed between contents of caffeine and TLC spot areas. Quantification of caffeine was carried out for a medicine tablet, coffee and guarana powders, a kola soft drink and a yerba mate beverage. Values close to the contents expected or within the admitted ranges were obtained. The method may be inadequate if high precision is essential, but it might be useful if values approximate to the real caffeine contents are satisfactory. Since the method requires no costly equipment, it seems to be feasible for chemistry teaching at several academic levels.
World Journal of Chemical Education. 2017, 5(5), 148-152. DOI: 10.12691/wjce-5-5-1
Pub. Date: August 17, 2017
26096 Views4505 Downloads1 Likes