Contributions from Chemistry 202

Profweb is continuing its series of articles on tools and strategies that you can easily integrate into your teaching. Each of these articles provides an overview of inspiring Real Life Stories that have been published on Profweb in line with a specific discipline. You will also find other web-based resources from the college network and beyond that can be useful as you enhance the delivery of your courses using ICT tools.

Our series continues with Chemistry.

Profweb and Chemistry

Chemistry Teachers from the college network have shared stories of how they are integrating technology into their classrooms. A number of Real Life Stories that are directly related to the use of ICTs in Chemistry have been published on Profweb in the last few years. We hope you find the following stories as inspirational as we have:

• Carole Emilie Baddour of the Collégial international Sainte-Anne related her experience with Evernote and teaching both inside and outside of the classroom to encourage learning in a Real Life Story published in the Fall of 2014. Within the text, the author even provides a link to a presentation that she facilitated at the AQPC Symposium just a few months prior to publishing her story.
• From Vanier College, Chemistry Teacher Jailson Farias De Lima writes about his experience of taking a multidisciplinary approach to help students learn by combining Science and the Arts in a Real Life Story from May of 2014.
• David Adley of Dawson College provided an overview of Projecting Whiteboard Content Online in January of 2010. Now retired from teaching, Mr. Adley’s article remains useful for Chemistry Teachers that want to update their presentation skills.
• Éric Laflamme and Benoit Villeneuve at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit discuss the development of the Modappi interactive platform created by Éric Laflamme for the course Measurement and Experimental Uncertainty (Mesures et incertitudes) in a Real Life Story published in November of 2013.
• In his Real Life Story published in September of 2013, Yann Brouillette of Dawson College discusses his use of interactive videos as an active learning tool for students in his Chemistry courses.
• Murray Bronet at John Abbott College recounts the transformations that his teaching has undergone, moving from traditional training to the use of digital tools in a Real Life Story in September 2012.

Other Web-based Resources from the Province and Beyond

There are a number of Chemistry resources on the web. We obviously can’t provide an exhaustive listing of these, but below you will find a select list that may come in handy when you are preparing your lessons. The resources are culled from Quebec’s IT Partner web sites:

• The VTÉ (Vitrine technologie-éducation) is the driving force behind the CERES project, which is an extensive catalogue of videos and information and contains a database of images. Some of these are very useful for the teaching of Chemistry.
  • Find some resources on fundamental laboratory skills such as how to perform titration.
  • Show your students how attraction really works by building simulated molecules.
  • Then let students mix it up (using solutions) in a virtual chemistry lab.
• The AQPC’s journal Pédagogie collégiale translated an article about the teaching of Chemistry in 2008. Sophie Maheu of Collège Rosemont discusses the contribution of scientific disciplines to technical/career programs.
• The CCDMD (Collegial Centre for Didactic Materials Development) website is an amazing treasure trove of pedagogical tools and websites. For Teachers looking to spice up their classes, we suggest you have a look at the Hands-On Science website which, according to CCDMD’s website “offers a series of short videos on how to use and handle instruments commonly found in chemistry and biology laboratories.” (Apple Quicktime is required). You may also want to check out some photos of elements from the periodic table in the 202 Chemistry Album on the World of Images website. These resources are free to use for educational purposes.
• The CDC (Centre de documentation collégiale) catalogue includes many research reports on pedagogy and Chemistry, such as this essay on Making Chemistry More Attractive for Women by Catherine Gilbert.
• Cégep à distance co-produced a 5 episode series on Chemistry with 19 video clips in all (French only).
• The SALTISE community website (Supporting Active Learning and Technological Innovation in Science Education) has a section of its website dedicated to Chemistry subdivided into topics such as Active Learning in Chemistry, Interactive Manipulations and Simulations, Problem-based Learning and Readings.

Use Profweb as a Springboard to Technopedagogical Success

Hundreds of resources have been published by Profweb since the site’s beginnings in 2005. Amongst these resources are informative articles, Real Life Stories of Teachers integrating ICTs into their practice, primers on useful digital tools and in-depth reports on the use of technology in education.

Profweb also offers free hosting for educational web sites. The Profweb team is there to help you find digital resources that have been made available to the college network and to share inspiring technopedagogical experiences. Our team can help you discover useful ICT resources in Chemistry or other disciplines. If you are interested, feel free to contact us.

We can also offer turnkey presentations for your establishment. Until we have the chance to meet, why not find out a bit more about some of the inspiring things your colleagues are doing?