Issue Date: April 20, 2009 High Jinks Boost Chemical Learning
INSTRUCTORS NEED to impart plenty of heavy concepts to their
chemistry students, but there's no reason they can't have a
little light fun in the process. Even better, there's evidence
that a playful approach can pay dividends in terms of student
comprehension, according to several posters presented before the
Division of Chemical Education during last month's American
Chemical Society national meeting in Salt Lake City. The
approaches described in these posters are enough to elicit a
giggle, or at least an appreciative groan: Classroom activities
include games dubbed "Al-mole-st Dead," "Krispy Khem Donut
Races," and "Chemistry Battleship"; a competition called "Cake
or Death"; and an exercise called "Body Geometry." All of these
activities were developed by undergraduate students mentored by
James E. Becvar, a chemistry professor at the University of
Texas, El Paso (UTEP). Becvar is a devotee of peer-led team
learning (PLTL), an approach in which s