Education articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Thesis |

    Teaching the history of science along with the science itself can give students greater context about the topic they are learning and a wider perspective on how it has developed. Michelle Francl, who has wrestled with how much time to spend on teaching history in the chemistry classroom for years, considers how unconventional histories can shift the curriculum.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Comment |

    Critical realism distinguishes the ‘real’ world from the ‘observable’ one, which scientists explore as actors rather than as passive, neutral observers. Through this lens, it is clear that a diverse community that interrogates the world from different angles is an asset to the practice of chemistry itself.

    • Margaret A. L. Blackie

  • Comment |

    Critical race theory — an academic framework that serves to understand systemic racism in the USA and beyond — can help inform endeavours to advance justice and equity in the chemistry community.

    • Terrell R. Morton

  • Thesis |

    Large language models such as ChatGPT have been predicted to lighten the load for some workers but make some roles obsolete. Michelle Francl explores what they can do for chemistry professors.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    Bifurcating the population as either verbal or visual thinkers is one of the simplest ways to classify intelligence. Bruce Gibb argues that visual thinking is key to chemistry, and that teaching and testing must focus on this type of thinking rather than traditional approaches promoting verbal thinking skills.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Q&A |

    Zafra Lerman talks to Nature Chemistry about embedding art in science education, and science in the pursuit of peace on Earth.

    • Anne Pichon

  • Thesis |

    Decisions, decisions. There’s a lot to think about when moving on from a postdoctoral position and Shira Joudan takes us through the considerations that led to her ultimately taking a tenure-track position in a new city.

    • Shira Joudan

  • Q&A |

    Athina Anastasaki from ETH Zürich talks to Nature Chemistry about her career, her research in polymer chemistry and the challenges she dealt with in her academic pathway.

    • Kathryn Ashe

  • Thesis |

    Bruce C. Gibb suggests it’s time to put student testing to the test and that everyone should be given the space they need to succeed.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Comment |

    Ingrained prejudices and a lack of action addressing discrimination are some of the main reasons why academic chemistry is overwhelmingly white. Data and discussions on racial inequalities are often greeted with scepticism and cynicism within the community, yet they are necessary to fight racism — and anti-Black racism in particular.

    • Binuraj R. K. Menon

  • Comment |

    The periodic table is immensely powerful for rationalizing many different properties of the chemical elements, but would turning it on its head make some important aspects easier to understand and give everyone a new perspective on chemistry?

    • Martyn Poliakoff
    • , Alexis D. J. Makin
    •  & Ellen Poliakoff

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl considers how metaphor breathes life into chemistry.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    As another semester of organic chemistry comes to a close, Bruce Gibb looks back on what he has learned about learning.

    • Bruce Gibb

  • Thesis |

    Tenure is vitally important when it comes to the creation and promotion of knowledge — and Bruce Gibb explains why.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Commentary |

    Imagine a class without lessons, tests and homework, but with missions, quests and teamwork. Video games offer an attractive educational platform because they are designed to be fun and engaging, as opposed to traditional approaches to teaching through lectures and assignments.

    • Ronald A. Smaldone
    • , Christina M. Thompson
    •  & Walter Voit

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl suggests that students should be trained to write in a fashion similar to how they are taught the principles and practice of NMR spectroscopy — by providing them with a limited set of patterns and parameters.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    Back-of-the-envelope calculations are an important part of chemistry argues Michelle Francl.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Commentary |

    As well as teaching students what we know, it is becoming increasingly important to teach them how we think. We must take a scientific approach to science education and experiment with teaching methods, including context-led work and media-rich resources, to foster active and independent student engagement.

    • David K. Smith

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