Check out the end of an internet era

Two popular chemistry blogs are closing down and you will need to drop in in the very near future if you want to check them out. It seems that the bloggers have discovered that the internet never sleeps and with the modern search engines the internet never forgets either. In both cases it would appear that the contents of the blog may impact the future of the blogger. The question for the future employer would be "why would I hire someone who may reveal secrets, embarrass or ridicule me on the internet?". It is odd that people would combine the catharsis of a private diary with the adrenaline rush of public performance (let's face it that's what a blog is) and yet never think that they might someday be accountable for what was written. In both cases it appears that the blogs became too popular and the identities of the bloggers became public.

Link to chemistry blog I

Link to chemistry blog II

Problems with this blog

I have had a couple of students come by and they noted that they had problems getting to the assignment on this blog. Has anyone else had similar problems?

Chemistry Weirdness

This is a link to a wonderful site where some German chemists have figured out how to use clown balloons to make large scale chemical structures. It is simply amazing but what is absolutely astounding is what appears to be the authentic endorsement of the site by Francis Crick (one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA)!

LINK TO BALLOON MOLECULES

The next link is just one of those crazy but true chemistry sites where some people decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Play-Doh by recreating that blast of volatile organic molecules that we all remember when we opened a fresh can of the stuff.

LINK TO EAU DE PLAY-DOH

And then there are these people who have devoted their lives to making a periodic table coffee table with encased examples of the elements. So little time, so many elements.

LINK TO PERIODIC TABLE TABLE

The Brooker Limit

I have been asked about the “Brooker Limit”.

In the early 1990's I was blessed to work in a relatively large chemistry department as a tenure-track assistant professor. I had been hired (and it was made abundantly clear in my job interview) to do research. It was made clear in my tenure review assessments as well that I was expected to focus on research and publication. Therefore, my natural inclinations towards discussions about teaching were mostly limited to content issues. There was this one conversation that I had though ...

Murray Brooker was a blocky, gruff senior faculty member who taught and did research in physical chemistry (vibrational spectroscopy). He had a heart for helping the high school chemistry teachers in the province and did some good work in the area. He had taught introductory chemistry for a few years and we happened to have a conversation about teaching first year chemistry.

After a few comments Murray reflectively noted "You know, when you start out teaching first year chemistry you tend to make mistakes and repeat yourself. But, if you don't change anything, each year you get more and more efficient at delivering the content. You get to the point where you are not making any mistakes and you are covering the maximum content possible. It makes you wonder if that is such a good thing. Perhaps we should be changing the content and textbooks regularly so that the faculty will be better at teaching and worse at delivering chemistry." (paraphrase)

I have since used the expression "Brooker Limit" to describe my courses where I have delivered the same course year after year so that I can simply “pull the string” and the content will come out. The negative power of the Brooker Limit is that it resists change because any change will reduce the efficiency of content delivery. I have come to the realization that most textbooks are written by professors at the Brooker Limit for other professors at the Brooker Limit. This has resulted in the trend of identical first year chemistry textbooks of near encyclopedic content and size. I can believe that there are professors out there that can deliver the content of these texts but I defy them to teach the content of these texts.

Stuff that makes me laugh (Part I)

Recent stuff I came across that made me smirk, smile or laugh.











My recent attempts at blogging make this one rather pointed.








The definitions of academic dishonesty just keep changing ...







As does the opinion if something is good or bad

Windows Journal for the Tablet PC

This semester I will be using a tablet PC to write my lecture notes in class instead of chalk as I have for the past 15 years. There are a number of reasons for this. I had reached the Brooker Limit for lecturing chemistry using a chalkboard and it was time for a change. Over the years a number of students noted that physically taking notes in my classes was so limiting that they did not really think about the material. This semester will be a test of that assertion because the lecture notes will be saved on the course webpage for student reference. Students that want to pay attention and not take notes will have access to a complete set as the course proceeds. So taking notes will be the students choice. That is partially dependent on my frustration level with the technology especially since the tablet PC will be useless if the projector does not work and I will be interested to note how much of my class will be taken up dealing with the technology. I have made a personal commitment on this but I can also see myself going back to chalk after I have lost a lecture or two. We will see.

Students that want to be able to read the lecture notes will need to install the free Windows Journal Viewer (follow link below).

LINK

If you were a muppet?

I am not a big fan of these internet memes but they are pretty pervasive and I seem to get a constant rain of them from people I hardly know. This one however might help you pick a blogger identity if you want to avoid giving out your personal information on the web. I did it and I turn out to be a Dr. Honeydew.

LINK

You Are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

You take the title "mad scientist" to the extreme -with very scary things coming out of your lab.And you've invented some pretty cool things, from a banana sharpener to a robot politician.But while you're busy turning gold into cottage cheese, you need to watch out for poor little Beaker! "Oh, that's very naughty, Beaker! Now you eat these paper clips this minute."

The Muppet Personality Test

Honeydew on the Internet

Prof. H. is discussed in detail in this wiki devoted to the muppets. If you follow the links back you can find out about Muppet Labs and Beaker as well.



LINK

Chem 2113 Class Assignment #1

In this class assignment you are expected to work together as a class to create an answer to the end of chapter questions 1.67 and 1.68 (all parts)IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS BLOG. Only students that actually enter a comment (even if it is only to agree with another students answer) will be given credit for the assignment. This assignment will be marked Saturday, Sept. 9 so you must have made your contribution by then.

CHEMISTRY LABORATORY VIDEO

Students that are concerned that they may not understand what they are reading when they prepare for a laboratory may find the following web sites useful. I would note that we may have slightly different equipment or procedures in our laboratories but the reality is that we all put our lab coats on one sleeve at a time. Warning! Some of these videos are VERY low tech but they get the point across. If you have ever been in a church service where the "special music" has wailed "please don't listen to me but listen to the words" then you know what I mean when I tell you that there is useful information in these videos if you can see past the nerd factor.

LINK TO GATEWAY FOR USEFUL LABORATORY INFORMATION

LINK TO GENERAL CHEMISTRY LAB PROCEDURES

LINK TO ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LAB PROCEDURES I

LINK TO ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LAB PROCEDURES II

If you can find others let me know or post a comment.

CHEM 1013 Class Assignment #1

In this class assignment you are expected to work together as a class to create an answer to the end of chapter question 1.72 (all parts)IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS BLOG. Only students that actually enter a comment (even if it is only to agree with another students answer) will be given credit for the assignment. This assignment will be marked Saturday, Sept. 16 so you must have made your contribution by then.